Taking Flight
by m.luciar
Summary: The reincarnated soul of Kagura finds herself in an eerily similar position to that of her previous life, desperately trying to find freedom from a crime clan in modern day Japan. Is history doomed to repeat itself as it does or will it go astray at the help of a young man and his family? Rated M for serious content discussion that may be disturbing to some readers.
1. Chapter 1: Imbalance

_"_ _Now that she had nothing to lose, she was free…"_

 _-Paulo Coelho_

Imbalance

"All I have to do is jump…" the young woman slurred under her breath. "If I jump, I'll be free. If I jump, it's over. What's worse than working for _him_? To die… Dying would be…" _A relief_. Part of her wanted to let those words slip out on the tip of her tongue, they were just there, but part of her wanted to ignore the voice at the edge of her mind coaxing her towards the edge of the building. She stumbled forward, her knees knocking against one another, partly in fear, and partly because of the third beer she was drinking at the time. It wasn't enough to get her drunk, but she certainly was feeling the poison in her bloodstream.

A cigarette in one hand, a beer in the second, her tight dress riding up her legs, the money stashed in the purse she left by the stairway, her hair falling in front of her eyes and out of the elaborate coiffure that she had put up for the party that night, the music still blasting away in the club below, but most importantly, the burn on her back… She knew that her life had hit rock bottom, and that no matter what she did, there was no way she could swim back up to the top: she was drowning in this life. For all she cared, she was already dead.

"I could take pills…" she muttered. "I'm already intoxicated… That should be enough to do me off." She set the beer down on the ledge of the building and turned around so that she could sit down on it, slowly twirling her legs around over the side. When she looked down at the street, she inhaled sharply, both awed and terrified of the concrete below her. The streets were quiet, it was three in the morning, after all, but they seemed so calm, so peaceful… So opposite to turmoil that she faced every day when she had to head in for "work", when she had to earn back all the money that had be leant to her, when she was reminded that she was not her own person, but a pawn, easily expendable, and anything but alive and free.

A gentle breeze caressed her face, almost as if it were kissing her cheeks, her salty eyes, her swollen red lips, whispering to her that everything would be okay, and for a moment, she felt at peace. The edges of her lips curled up to a small smile. She began to pump her legs, feeling slightly like a child again that sat on a swing, feeling the smack of the wall against her heels and watching as one shoe fell off and plummeted to the ground, which resulted in a small smirk.

"Damn, those shoes were expensive… If he knew that I lost one…" She shook her head and sighed. _No, I won't think of him now. This is me trying to get away from him, I won't let him ruin this for me, too._ She took in one last inhale from the cigarette, flicked it down into the streets, watching at the burning ember cascaded down, knowing that her body would be next. At least her soul, she'd be free. The tips of her fingers curled along the side of the edge, getting ready to push forward as she took one last breath. _Get ready to fly, sweetheart…_

"What are you doing?"

The young woman abruptly jumped in her spot, shocked by the appearance of a second voice. The initial thought was that _he_ sent one of his hounds after her to keep watch and make sure she didn't do anything out of line, and immediately when she turned around, she realized that the man's face was unrecognizable. Well, he seemed _familiar,_ but she certainly hadn't seen him before, at least not in her work place. His features were soft, but at the same time, his eyes contained a hardness that only a callous man could have. She flickered her eyes on him, inspecting him, seeing if he was possibly a new member, and as she did so she gathered as much information on his character as possible. He was wearing a jacket, but she noticed immediately that he was wearing scrub pants, so he was either a doctor or a nurse: He wasn't wearing a wedding ring, so he couldn't have been married either, and he seemed to be quite young, perhaps his mid twenties, so he wasn't young enough to be a new recruit: she decided he wasn't one of her boss's men.

"I'm… I'm enjoying the view," the lie felt forced. She wasn't _exactly_ expecting company, and she could tell by the look on his face that he knew. The man walked toward her, calm and collected, as if the scenario was as simple as buying an ice-cream.

"Don't come closer!"-the man stopped in his tracks-"This isn't any of your business, so I suggest you leave now!" She scooted closer the end of the ledge, biting her lip as she rocked forward.

"No. It's not my business," he responded, beginning to waltz over to her once more, far more slowly, as if she wouldn't notice.

"Then why are you here?" she barked at him, not bothering to turn around and see him fully.

"Because I'm a surgeon, and I saw you sitting on the ledge. It did not seem that the police were coming, so I figured I'd have to take care of the situation on my own." The doctor was almost at the ledge of the building, preparing to remove his jacket.

"They let you in in that?" she muttered.

"They must've thought I was a dancer."

The desperate woman chuckled, still not turning to make eye contact with him as he brought himself beside her, leaning along the edge of the building himself as if he were leaning over the rails of a ship on a cruise.

"You can't stop me," she whispered. "I need to do this."

"You need to kill yourself?"

"You wouldn't understand. This is… This is my only chance to get away."

"What's your name?" the surgeon asked, looking down at his hands and then back out to the sky. The wind picked up again and she felt it all along her body, through her hair, and she smiled again.

"Please leave," the young woman looked at him, with pleading eyes. "Please. I need to do this alone."

"You don't want to be alone when you die," he seemed to hum the words, as if they balanced perfectly on his lips. The young woman shook her head, struggling to hold back a laugh.

"You're naïve, aren't you," she finally looked over at him, bearing a smile on her face, but he seemed to be serious, with no change of emotion over his looks.

"I see people die alone every day. I think I know what I'm talking about," the harsh tone in his voice caused her to look away. Her fingers pushed up against the edge, and she felt his hand wrap around her wrist. "Don't. You have a reason to live."

"How many people did you see die today?" she whispered, looking down her at her own feet, continuing to swing them.

"No one died on my watch today, at least, not yet. I just got off work, the last thing I need is to call an ambulance and have to work on you on a table if you survive the fall," his eyes gestured down to the street, "which will be painful."

"The fall's too high for me to survive it," she snickered.

"You seem to have had something to drink, so no. It's possible for you to survive this fall. It will hurt like hell, but it's possible," he explained. It sounded like a lie, they both knew a five story drop would kill her, and he was simply trying to use scare-tactics to stop her, and it seemed to be for a selfish reason, too, which only angered her.

The smack of her lips resonated through the air, the hum of disappointment that rang off them pierced the surgeon's ears. Tears welled up in her eyes and she bit her lip as she turned away from her, pulling her wrist out of his grip and immediately going up to dry her eyes. Her mascara was running down the underside of her eyes, she was starting to dry heave, and her body was shaking from head to toe.

"You don't want to do this," he whispered, leaning in closer to her, attempting to make eye contact again. The calm in his voice seemed to run down her spine, the flavor of his words, but it couldn't change the movement of the wind as it brushed through her hair and along her skin, reminding her of her reasoning.

"But I do want to be free."

She could see in her peripherals the change in his face, almost shock—at least she knew he had emotions, he seemed to be simply a calm beast.

"If you die, there's no guarantee that what awaits you on the other side will be any better than what you have now. Or if there will be anything at all," he stated matter-of-factly, "In fact, most patients when they wake up from a near-death experience say that they felt or saw nothing at all. So if freedom is your goal… I'm not sure how far you'll get with it."

"You don't know where I've been!" she twisted her head around and snapped at him, eyes burning with the fury of fire, teeth clenching in a continuous growl as she panted, her finger tips digging into the stone. "You don't know how I've been living. I'm trapped. There's no way out."

"I'm asking you not to jump off of that ledge tonight," the young surgeon explained. "Give yourself one more chance."

She turned her head back to the street, glaring down at the road with a hate that seemed to roar from the inside. The surgeon held out his hand to her and she flickered her eyes over to them, smooth and clean, before looking back up into his calm eyes, they were a dark brown, at least at the edges, growing lighter toward the middle with hints of gold resonating in the irises. She was drawn in by the seemingly unmoved eyes, as if his calm had somehow transferred over to her. Her eyes drew over his face, it was slim, his lips barely parted as he breathed in and out, his complexion seemingly fair against his sheen, dark black hair that was tied back to keep it out of his face.

"Come on."

Reluctantly, she placed her hand in his and he immediately drew one arm around her waist to help her climb off of the edge of the building; she stumbled upon making contact with the ground, holding onto him for balance. The young woman removed her remaining platform so that she would at least be level when she walked, handling the alcohol would've been hard enough. He proceeded to put the jacket he had taken off earlier around her shoulders, rubbing her arms as if she were cold.

"We should get you to a hospital," the surgeon inclined. "You should be kept in a facility, until you're feeling better at least."

"No."

"Pardon me?"

"No, no hospitals." She began to shake again in his fingertips. "No hospitals, he'll find me… If I go to a hospital, he'll… He can find me if I'm in a hospital, and if he knows what I tried to do… I can't!" her statements gradually turned into fragments, which turned more into belligerent cries, her eyes opened wide, staring at him with such an extreme desperation.

"Fine, no hospitals," he agreed, and the young woman breathed in a sigh of relief. "But I don't felt comfortable leaving you alone right now." This statement resulted in a glare, which he didn't bother to acknowledge. "So you can stay the night in my apartment. I'll keep my house-sitter, he won't mind. And I can make sure you stay… Alive," he paused before the last word, as if it made him slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't need a baby-sitter," she muttered, grabbing the jacket and pulling it tighter around her body.

"Really? Because you were about to throw yourself off of a five story building. You either go to a hospital-," panic returned to the woman's eyes, "-or you come home with me and I help you out until you wake up tomorrow. You choose."

The two stood there for a moment, the young woman still gnawing at her lip in the process of deciding, before she looked up to him and nodded her head in agreement. "I'll come home with you, if you promise that I can leave tomorrow," she compromised. The strange surgeon nodded in agreement before walking off without her, she started over at him, almost awe struck by his behavior. The surgeon barely cast a look over his shoulder.

"Are you going to come?"

"Of-… Of course!" she commented, baffled by the statement, and proceeded to follow after him, feeling almost awkward about the interaction.

"You never told me what your name was," he stated as he walked through the door.

"I'm Kagura," the young woman introduced herself, she looked up at the stranger, almost questioning the fact that he seemed to pause for a moment before continuing his path down the poorly lit stairwell, the lights flickering in a eerie manner, not that Kagura wasn't used to living spaces as such, but the surgeon did seem slightly uncomfortable. "And you are?"

"My name is Sesshomaru. When you get to my apartment, you'll meet my housekeeper and my daughter, although, she is probably asleep… But my housekeeper has never been good at getting her to comply. They are Jaken and Rin respectively, although, I would appreciate it if you did not address my daughter." Kagura was immediately insulted by the statement, her nose scrunched up into a scowl, and she immediately went to shout at the surgeon, but he quickly turned around and stared her down with his calm gaze. "It's not meant to be offensive. It's just that she gets distracted easily and I don't want her to get any ideas about you."

 _What's –that- supposed to me?_

"Fine," she growled. "I promise not to talk to your daughter."

"Unless she talks to you first, then she'll think there's something wrong with her if you don't involve yourself in a conversation."

 _Is it possible for this guy to seem any more condescending?_ She heard the thought echo in her mind, but part of her also knew that he was the reason she was alive, which made it nearly impossible to hate him (not completely impossible, though).

Kagura stopped in the stairway, looking down as Sesshomaru opened the door to the exit. He stared back up at her with questioning eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" she questioned, tension quickly rising in her body. She knew better than to get herself into situations where she had to pay off a debt or owe anything, but for whatever reason, this man had a certain familiarity and immediately seemed to gain her trust, or at least, seem like someone that would be the least of her worries.

"I told you, I didn't see anyone die today, which would've been a record for me. I'd like to keep it that way. Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2: Greetings

_"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life."_

 _-Richard Bach_

Greetings

Sesshomaru unlocked the door to his apartment without struggle, the only concern in keeping quiet as they entered—even going as far as to put a finger to his mouth as to signal her. Almost immediately, a loud bark echoed in Kagura's ears, and she snapped her head down to the white, three legged malamute sprinting towards them as best it could, jumping onto his owner with gusto as he knelt down to the ground to greet the pet by scratching at his ears. For whatever reason, it brought a slight smile to Kagura's face.

"Sir, you're home!" a hoarse whisper came from the couch, "I was worried! You were la—." The man's train of thought immediately ceased the moment he caught Kagura in his eye, glaring at her as if she were a mere pest. He was a shriveled little thing, perhaps shorter than she was, bald, wrinkled, with a large nose that made him seem like a reptile to Kagura. He had to be at least fifty years old.

"We have a guest tonight. This is Kagura, she needed some help," he explained, not bothering to look his worker in the eye. The older man's lip pursed in distaste, as if he had had a bite of a lemon while looking at the woman.

"I don't understand you at times, sir."

Kagura repressed a fowl look at the housekeeper. These people were helpful, but at the same time, they were condescending and rude. She wasn't exactly sure how to feel about her current situation.

Sesshomaru ignored his housekeeper's statement; he certainly did not hesitate to flash a look over at the old, shriveling man. "Did Rin give you any trouble?"

A look of contempt and anguish swept over the man's face. "Don't get me started! She wanted to go to the park today, and so of course, I obliged, since you've given me permission to partake in such 'activities'-," he rolled his eyes, "-but today, she was ever so gracious and played in the _mud_!"

"She always does that, Jaken. She likes to play around in the dirt. She's _four,_ it's normal," Sesshomaru lectured with annoyance in his tone.

"Yes, I know, but she _threw_ it at me today! She came over with the pie, and I, of course, thanked her, and _then!-_ then she wanted to have a mud ball fight! And she simply stated the fact she wanted one, threw a _fistful_ of mud at me, and ran away, without letting me get to say 'No' in the first place! She ruined my best shirt, sir, I'm not sure-," the old man continued to blabber on, immediately losing Kagura's interest, but she couldn't help but notice the small smile that came to the surgeon's face as his housekeeper relayed the details of the day. She wondered if he could see the events unfolding in his mind as Jaken explained them and was happy for his daughter's joy, or some sort of masochist who enjoyed the suffering of another human at the hands of his child (although, it was probably both).

"Did she go to sleep with ease?" Sesshomaru cut off the sitter, sorting through a pile of mail that was left out on a table. Kagura took the chance to examine the room, for an apartment, it was definitely luxurious. He'd done well for himself.

There was space, the kitchen and living room were separated by what appeared to be some island bar, and there was a table with three chairs leaning up against a window that sat by a balcony. There were cabinets surrounding the three walls in the kitchen area, all a dark brown wood, which appeared to be smooth like glass. There was a cabinet designated solely to fine china, she began to wander around, looking at the different things that were there. When she made her way around to the living room, she examined the furniture. For having a child, the man seemed to have pretty poor intelligence based on the fact that all of the sofas and couches were _white_. There was one long sofa that sat in front of a coffee table, with some kind of blanket thrown over it, really, it looked like a cloud, except for the stains that came with the privileges having a child, and all Kagura wanted to do was sit down and wrap herself in it. There were two other couches that were sat around the table, so that it seemed to be an open area where a group could talk without be isolated from one another. There were several tables that were placed around the room, covered in photos. A large, flat-screen T.V. hung on the wall in front of the living space. The man had clearly done well for himself. Kagura picked up one frame; it was a picture of the surgeon and the young girl who had to be his daughter. They were on a boardwalk, the little pig-tailed girl was standing up on the very last ladder of the fence of the pier, holding a windmill in one hand with the largest smile on her face, Kagura knew that the picture must've been taking while she was laughing. Her gaze followed the line of her father's finger to Sesshomaru was pointing towards in the water, probably, Sesshomaru's arm wrapped around his daughter's waist to help keep her balance and prevent her from falling in. There was a slight smile on his face as he was looking up to acknowledge the child's happiness. Kagura caught herself smiling. From looking through all the pictures, though, the girl didn't seem to have a mother or even resemble her father in anyway. It provoked Kagura's curiosity, but at the time, it gave her a stronger appreciation for the man helping her, at least, in that moment.

"Jaken, I'd appreciate if you could spend the night," Sesshomaru's eyes glanced over at Kagura, as if she didn't notice. The sitter simply nodded his head and made his way down the hallway, perhaps he had some quarters in the household? "I'll get some sheets for the couch. You can sleep there." the voice broke her train of thought; she immediately set the photo down back in its place. Kagura nodded her head.

"Thank you," she responded, bowing her head slightly, he didn't say much else; he simply walked down a hallway to where she assumed there were rooms.

"Papa!" a gleeful cry exploded in the hallway, and Kagura immediately jumped, clutching a hand over her heart, only to relax when she realized it was his child.

"Rin, you should be asleep," the calm voice echoed in the hallway. Kagura felt another smile creep on her face, that calmness had to come in handy, she was sure that neither of her own parents would've probably handled that kind of excitement at this time in the morning the same way.

"I know," the little girl whispered, as if quieting her tone would change the fact that she was out of bed, "but I heard you get home. I'm going to say bye to Jaken, now!"

"Rin, wait!" Sesshomaru called out, but the slight tapping of small feet burst through the hallway as the child went to say her goodbyes, only to run into the strange woman in her home. She was dressed in an oversized pink t-shirt, long pants covered in frogs and hearts, and she clutched a stuffed dog to her chest, nearly identical to the pet in the house, her brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail, where the ends flew out in any direction they pleased, and her brown eyes sparkled with fear.

"Papa!" she cried out anxiously as she retreated back. Sesshomaru was already hustling down the hallway behind her so that she backed up against his leg. She immediately dropped the stuffed toy and her small hands gripped to his pant leg as she hid behind him. "There's a stranger in our house."

"No, Rin," Sesshomaru started, twisting around so that he could look at her frightened features, "she's staying the night is all." The child exhaled in relief and immediately escaped her father's grasp in order to observe the new woman in her home. She walked up, stuffed dog dragging behind her, and looked at Kagura head to toe before promptly sticking a hand out to Kagura to shake it. Kagura first looked to Sesshomaru, remembering his earlier statement and wondering if it were okay to shake the child's hand.

"Hi, I'm Rin!"

Kagura noticed that the surgeon nodded at her, so she looked back down at Rin with a beaming smile, and limply shook the little girl's hand.

"Hello, Rin, I'm Kagura. It's very nice to meet you." Rin instantly wrapped her second small hand around Kagura's and began to drag her towards the hallway and roughly past Sesshomaru, who seemed completely un-vexed by his daughter's actions. Rin immediately stopped, causing Kagura to hasten to a halt in order to not run over the child, the little girl bent over and scratched at the three-legged dog's ears.

"This is A-Un. I named him. Papa came back with this dog, 'cause the dog 'spoke to him' or something, but I named him 'cause I love him and that's that. Okay, I'm going to show you my room now!" The tiny pull of the child's grasp was strong enough that Kagura swore that her arm was going to fall right out of its socket. She turned around to Sesshomaru to ask for help, but he was already walking into his room and closing the door. Kagura felt a siege of rage come over her, but she quickly masked it for the child's happiness, who had brought her over to her bed and insisted that she take a seat as she began to bring every toy she had available over to the stranger. Kagura took them all, greeting every one, complying with the child and pretending that each toy had it own persona. It wasn't long before Sesshomaru was leaning in the doorway, beckoning to the child. He took a knee, and the little girl barely came up to his head as he did so.

"I'm going to have Ms. Kagura sleep on the couch, and she needs rest, so you'll have to say good night now," Sesshomaru explained to the little girl. She nodded her head and turned to Kagura. The young woman stood up, placing the toys on the little girl's unmade bed in a meticulous matter so that there were arranged as a giant, organized pillow. Sesshomaru stood up, observed the behavior and looked down at Rin as she began to skip over to Kagura, who she tapped on the back of her legs.

"It was very nice to meet you. I'll see you in the morning!" Rin exclaimed before wrapping her tiny arms around Kagura's legs, nearly throwing her off balance. Kagura reached over to the bed post for balance, and when she had regained her composure from the initial shock, she reached over and stroked Rin's head once before patting her on the back.

"It was very nice to meet you, too," Kagura responded, as the young girl's arms unwrapped from around the woman's legs, Kagura made her way towards the door and wandered down the hall. She watched as Sesshomaru entered the room, barely hearing the whispers that were exchanged between father and daughter, and then as he quietly shut the door. The moment Sesshomaru caught her gaze, Kagura sharply turned her head, almost embarrassed at her behavior.

"She's a sweet girl," Kagura stated. "She must get it from her mother."

"Get what?"

"That… Behavior. You seem so…" Kagura trailed off, realizing that she could come off as insulting, and she waved her hand in front of her face before turning around. "Forget it. That was rude of me."

She heard the young man sigh as he passed her, "I don't like nosy people," he stated matter-of-factly. "So if you have questions, don't ask." Kagura swallowed hard, her eyes boring into the back of his head. She _had_ apologized; a _polite_ person would've at least acknowledged that, perhaps his daughter was picking up behaviors from her old man. Kagura walked over to the makeshift bed and sat down on it, it was comfy enough. Although, she noticed that the throw blanket had been removed which was a slight disappointment to the woman. She kicked her feet up onto the sheets and quickly pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, breathing in its warmth and feeling comfort for the first time in years.

"Do you want to tell me why you were going to jump off that roof?" Sesshomaru seated himself down on her feet; she quickly retracted them before containing the scold that was just at the tip of her tongue for his disregard. Instead, she held the blanket up to her chin, sitting up against the arm of the chair, eyes piercing the surgeon's.

"I thought you didn't like nosy people," Kagura reinforced, the surgeon's facial expression did not change, and as Kagura waited for a response to his hypocrisy, she realized that she wasn't going to receive one. The young woman's eyes flickered down to her feet. "It's a long story."

"Try me."

Kagura's eyes flashed back up to his, pausing, unsure of which details to recount and which to keep out. If he knew the whole truth, it could change his opinion on helping her and she certainly didn't want that. As for right now, she needed him; she couldn't have him kicking her out on the curb, especially when only God knows who her boss sent out to search for her. But in his eyes, she found sincerity. It almost made her uncomfortable how strong his gaze was as his arms draped around the couch in such as comfortable manner, it was almost as if he was relaxed in intensity. She gulped and sighed, bringing her knees closer to her chest.

"If I'm going to tell this story, I'd like some coffee, okay? We're probably going to need it."


	3. Chapter 3: A Tall Tale

_"Strength shows not only the ability to persist, but the ability to start over."_

 _-Unknown_

A Tall Tale

By the time Sesshomaru had brought the cups of coffee over, it was nearly 4:30 in the morning. Kagura cupped the mug in her hands, warm and smooth against the callous of her palms. She gazed down into the blackness before gazing back up at the young man.

"Are you sure this can't wait 'til morning?" The man stared her down, looking down at the coffee and then back up at her, as if to speak without moving his mouth. She understood loud and clear, and she sighed before she bit her lip, staring down at her twitching toes and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. The young woman was stalling, but it was a hard story to recount, and not one she enjoyed remembering either. She owed it to him, though, for inviting her into his home. "I… I'm not sure where to begin." She felt her body begin to tremble, the coffee making waves in the cup, and felt unable to stop as she struggled to find a pattern of breathing in and out. She was shocked to feel his hand on her shoulder, it was placed awkwardly: bringing comfort was not his strong suit, but it helped her continue either way.

"I was very young when it started out," Kagura began.

"How young?"

"I was about fourteen, I think. Maybe younger. I was too little to really understand what was going on, but my family needed money. I needed money, so that I could go to school. So I could do big things, like I was meant to," Kagura sighed and took a sip of her coffee, hoping that the warmth it brought her would somehow make the memories seem less distraught. "If I could go back…" she shook her head, that wasn't possible, it was easier to remove any fantastical thoughts. "...Anyways, I was fourteen and I needed money, so one of my friends helped me out by helping me get a job. It wasn't exactly legal, he told me, but that I'd be well paid and that I'd be protected… But it wasn't what I thought it would be… They took me from my family, and I ended up all the way here, and they made me…" she stopped, taking a deep breath in, shaking her head, leaning up into her knees, her chest heaving as she tried to stop herself from crying. She felt the supportive arm on her shoulder enclose her in a blanket before returning to his lap.

"I'll get you some water," the surgeon's voice was calm, but Kagura reached out and grabbed his wrist with a strong grip, she was surprised he didn't yelp out in pain.

"Don't. I can do this." She let him go, and her hand wandered back up to her knee caps as her eyes bore holes into the floor.

"It was a yakuza1?" Sesshomaru questioned. Kagura nodded her head, swallowing hard.

"I suppose you could say that, I wouldn't exactly use that term too loosely, though. It was sort of based around those principals; it was more like a 'wannabe' yakuza. It didn't exactly follow all of the rules. The boss… My boss… He created his own, and the clans didn't acknowledge us at first… But... It's hard to explain, I don't even understand it, to be honest. I'm not _exactly_ part of the hierarchy. I'm just… Just a…" she brought her head back against the sofa and held it there, "I'm not sure that I can tell you this."

Sesshomaru looked down at her hands, her fragile fingers barely holding onto the cup, the bags under her eyes expressing the years worn down. She had to be in her early twenties, but she braced a maturity beyond that. Life had clearly worn her down. "You don't have to explain in detail. I understand."

"For years, I was stuck in that tier, but eventually my boss let me stop. He was my pimp at the time, so that meant that he was the one that would guard me and the other girls. He started to refer to us as his daughters, it was disgusting. He loved spiders, well; he loved how terrified most of the girls were of spiders, especially the younger ones. He would stick them in our sheets, I would watch in the corner of my eyes as they'd run out of their sheets screaming while he'd laugh at them. We all lived in a basement of this dark and murky building, it was always cold, and I never think I had a night of sleep where I felt warm. Sometimes, we'd try to huddle for warmth, but my boss would always split us up. I remember the first night, how terrified I was, the other girls had told me that they'd been there for years, that there was no escape… And I was starving. I was used to eating well enough, my family was poor, but I could at least still have something to eat. I was rarely fed, all of us were. And he told us the reason. He said it was because they wanted us to be skinny, the skinnier we were, the younger we looked, the more successful business would be." Kagura took another deep breath and pressed her head between her legs, trying to get some air into her lungs. The story was full of holes, full of details she wasn't allowing herself to recall; memories that she had tried to destroy that were blasting back full-speed. The young woman took a few more sips of her coffee. Sesshomaru's cup sat on the table, empty.

"Should I get some more coffee?"

The young woman nodded her head, thankful for the break. She followed Sesshomaru like a puppy into the kitchen, not wanting to be alone after recounting the story, even in the bare bones of it. He didn't seem to mind, however, he simply cast his eyes over to her, she was grateful that there wasn't pity in his eyes. It was her biggest fear in telling the story, besides being out-casted for it. She would find out that aspect later, when she finished telling her story. Kagura placed her hands upon the counter, pushing herself up next to the sink. Sesshomaru handed her a second cup of coffee.

"The notion of leaving was completely eradicated the moment you've been tossed through those doors. And that's how it's done, too. One second you're waking up in someone's trunk and the next, you're being holstered out and tossed down into a room where you're surrounded by strangers… Anyways, the moment you arrive, you're constantly told that if you even _think_ about escaping, if you even _think_ about telling anyone that you're not doing this of your freewill, they'll kill you. And they won't do it quickly either. It doesn't matter how much protection from the authorities you have, how far you go, they will find you and kill you. There's no escape. I asked the other girls if it were true, and they all knew one time or another where a girl had mentioned that she was going to be free and that she'd never return, except perhaps a lock of bloody hair that the pimp's would take as evidence of the girl's disappearance. Even with all of that, I had nowhere to go, I had no money, all of the money I made went to the boss, I had no friends to help me out. The only friends I had were the other girls and then some of the lower men. I started getting into things I had no business getting into.

"I was surrounded by temptations and I was resisting none of them. I felt so trapped, I needed an escape. So I started drinking and smoking, anything that would help me forget what I was I was going through." Her eyes shut tightly, her lips smacked as if she could taste the memories, feeling the distaste swell up inside of her, "I was getting too old," she chuckled leaning up against her legs, "how disgusting. I was twenty, so I was too old for most men. I want to throw up right now just thinking about it… I wasn't allowed to leave. If I left, that meant I could tell. To them, it was better that I was dead. That was the threat, that I would end up in the ocean and no one would bother to look for me," her eyes welled up again; she took the heel of her hand and quickly swiped away the tears. "They were going to kill me, right there and then, I should've let them. Instead, I begged that they let me stay, that they give me other work, that I would do anything. I was on my knees, pleading for a life that wasn't worth living. So my pimp gave me a choice. He told me that I could be _his_ to do with what he wants, to make money off of me however he feels, that I would be his own personal pet, or that I could die. I choose life. So he marked me, he had one of those prodders, you know, like they use on cattle, but instead of a number or a letter, he had this horrible makeshift spider, it barely looked like that was what it was supposed to be. So he… He has one of his men come over and rip open my shirt and strike me down to the ground, the next thing I knew, they're holding me down by both of my arms. I didn't know that _that_ was how he marked his 'territory', I was terrified. They only took you to the doctor to make sure you weren't sick for sex; they didn't care about anything else, so whatever that was on that chunk of metal was going to be going into my skin and my blood and I could've just died from that alone. I don't really remember the actual burning sensation though, what I really remember is the sound of it hitting my shoulder," she motioned up over to her left shoulder, "And I remember screaming out in pain, and that he dug it deeper into my skin, shouting at me to stop because people would hear, so I had to bite my tongue to the point that I could taste blood. When he was done, they let go of me and left me alone crying against the pavement, and I could still hear it... I wasn't the only one, though. He had somehow found a way to manipulate several of the others, including most of the lower-tier men to follow him. He did the same thing to everyone."

She stopped, taking a minute to gather her own recount of the story. Her face was far off and distant, as if she had been able to cut all emotional ties to the horror she'd experienced, but the young man knew that deep down, there was an abundant amount of sadness that she was masking: her calm was her façade.

"…So he let me continue to do my 'work', he gave me other tasks, too. He started having me make drug runs; I was getting involved in all kinds of illegal activities. But as long as I was allowed to live, I was okay with it. That didn't last long, though," Kagura stopped, staring down at the coffee table in front of them. She could see Sesshomaru still staring intently at her, waiting for the rest of it, but she couldn't bring herself to tell the rest. "I can't…"

"Perhaps another time," Sesshomaru sighed. "It's late, and I still have to get up early to spend time with Rin." He stood up, collecting the mugs and heading over to the sink to wash them. Kagura would've simply put them in the sink, but Sesshomaru began to wash them immediately, the sink on the lowest speed it could be as to not awake any one. Kagura could barely see him through the cabinets and with his head turned away from her, but enough to wonder what was going through his mind.

"Don't you have to go to work?" Kagura stood up again, draping the blanket around her shoulders and shuffling over to the surgeon. She couldn't imagine that he wasn't a workaholic of a sort.

"I work at nights, that way I get to spend time with my daughter during the day. I barely sleep, but I don't need much of it."

"I'm guessing I didn't help that tonight," Kagura smirked, leaning up against the drawers along the island. The clock now read 5:30, she had been speaking to him for about an hour and he hadn't seemed to mind.

"Not really, no," Sesshomaru stated as he dried the cups and put them back where the cabinet they originated from. He stopped before he went to close the cabinet door, a looking of ponder on his face. "The whole story… It still doesn't explain why you'd want to end it all."

Kagura swallowed hard and her eyes widened with a neck that craned forward, all in a response of shock. "Really? None…? None of that?" she drew her hand over her shoulder, motioning to the couch, "Wow, I mean… I would've thought you'd pick up on the fact that… Well…"

"Well, what?"

Kagura leaned up against the island, looking back down at the floor before taking a deep breath. "I was trapped. It was like being in prison, but worse. I think I would rather have been in prison… You don't have any choices, there's no free choice, it's their way or death, and I was thinking about escaping… They would've found out sooner or later, I would've been killed, so that time on the roof, that was my way out. It was the one time I was in control, and if I could at least control the circumstances of how I died… That would be fine with me."

"So these people… They're looking for you right now?" Sesshomaru leaned up against the sink, his eyes sternly following Kagura's. She immediately broke eye-contact as she bowed her head in shame with her eyes shut tight. "Is that a yes?"

"Probably," Kagura heard Sesshomaru sigh and she immediately opened up her eyes to look back at him. "Listen, you can throw me out now, that's fine. I'd understand it if you did, it's just that—"

"I'm not going to do that," Sesshomaru remarked, that sharp callous returning to his voice, "But you have to leave in the morning."

Kagura nodded her head slowly as she processed his sentence. If she had been a mother, and had a stranger enter her home with the potential for dangerous followers, there was no way she'd allow said stranger to stay the night, but perhaps that was because she knew what was in store in the case that they found her.

"I really should contact the authorities," Sesshomaru began; Kagura immediately gulped down air in horror, "I know you said that the authorities can't help, but that's a scare tactic. You should know that."

"There's a difference now, I've… I'm not just a victim any more, I was an active participant in some of the activities," Kagura explained in a low hum as she tightened the blanket around her shoulders.

"You said there were no free choices," Sesshomaru threw the words back at her, cold and abrasive like a knife.

"There weren't—"

"So then you can go to the authorities."

"But I—"

"You have to do this either on your own or go to the authorities and get help. If you go to the police, they have to believe you. I'm not going to be able to help you in the morning," Sesshomaru argued, a hint of aggravation in his tone at her hesitation. Kagura could understand him from a logical stand point, she really could, but for years she was under the abuse of her 'owners', and the kind of power she had still felt to be the size of her pinky toe in comparison to the body that was at work.

"I don't expect you to understand, I don't," Kagura started, "For the last ten years, I've been beaten, neglected, degraded and used like a human doll. The only option I have now is to hide or they'll kill me."

It seemed as though the surgeon was going to comment, his face lost in the process of mid-thought, but he held his tongue and exhaled before patting his hands up against the edge of the counter. He brushed past her, heading back out toward the living room and walking steadily over to a trunk. The young woman turned around to lean in against the wall that connected the kitchen to the living room, watching as Sesshomaru knelt over the trunk and input a code that resounded with a soft click as it opened. He pulled out an old, rusted broad sword, seeming fragile enough that if dropped it would shatter, but he held it as if it were in mint condition. Kagura strained her eyes, finding it remotely familiar, but casting the idea off: she'd seen several swords before, she was confusing herself. It was early in the morning.

"I'm taking this to my room, just in case," Sesshomaru explained, "If someone comes through; I want you to run away from Rin's room, towards the kitchen."

"They're probably not going to be able to track me down here," Kagura reassured as she walked over, reaching her hand out to touch the blade. Sesshomaru immediately drew it away from her, as if her touch would dirty it. "Where did you get that?"

"I found it in a pawn shop," Sesshomaru explained, drawing his finger over the blade, "It has a whole story, I'm not exactly sure the details of it, but it's not supposed to be a good blade; supposedly, it has evil aura: it had to deal with a demon and a vendetta, I didn't really catch what the man said, I was too focused on the sword."

"Isn't it dangerous to own objects with bad auras?" Kagura sat down on her makeshift bed. She noticed the smallest glint of a smile flash up along the corner of his mouth, but he didn't respond.

"Sleep well, if you need anything, wake up Jaken."

Before Kagura could thank him once more, Sesshomaru was already down the hallway and in his room, leaving the free woman alone with her mind. The memories were still flowing through her mind with the same ferocity of a white water rapid, crashing against the deepest banks of her mind, filling her with the turmoil she desperately tried to run from. The young woman didn't know what she had planned for the next day; she didn't know where to go. Her purse was on the roof, that's where the money was, so she couldn't afford to get a bus ticket, and she wasn't sure how far the surgeon was willing to help her anymore, especially based on his earlier statements. The thoughts continued to flow through her mind, flooding to the brim as she tossed over to face the back of the couch, resting her nose up against the soft material. With the smell of the sheets and the couch, she began to feel her body relax, never had she felt so alienated and so at home at once. At least, for the first time in years, she was comfortable. Her mark was still there, and so was her past, but at least for now she had a warm blanket enveloping her, and the cushions beneath her felt as soft as a cloud in comparison to the hard, cold floor she had slept on for years. The stream of anxiety simply ebbed away as the minutes passed and she fell into a restless sleep, the first in years.


	4. Chapter 4: Countless Times

_"What takes us back to the past are the memories. What brings us forward is our dreams."_

 _-Jeremy Irons_

Countless Times

Sesshomaru situated himself in his bed, trying his best not to disturb the sleeping malamute at the foot of it, his back comfortable against the hard mattress and he crossed his arms across his chest, his hands meeting in the center. It was rigid, but it was generally comfortable for the doctor, and he knew exactly what he needed for a goodnight sleep. Two cups of coffee had not been smart for that particular list, but at least he had helped the woman open up to him. Of course, now, he was regretting letting her into his home in the first place, the list of dangers she brought to his home were endless. If it hadn't been for Rin, he wouldn't have been nearly as concerned, but his daughter was the number one priority. The surgeon knew better, yakuza members freely roamed the streets consistently without consequence; if anyone had seen… They probably would've attacked them right there and then. The young man tossed onto his side, resting his hands next to his face, trying to use logic to define safety, not for him, but for his family. His eyes peeled up to a nightstand, where he could barely see in the dark the picture that Rin gave to him within a week of her stay. It was poorly drawn, obviously, at the hands of a three year old with a couple of crayons, but it was distinctly the two of them, Sesshomaru was perceived with a serious glare, whereas the little girl was shown with a beaming smile, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the poorly drawn Jaken scowling in the background, nothing more than a mere mixture of scribbles. He reached out for the frame, holding it docilely in his hand as his fingers traced over the image.

The surgeon's mind was filled with different thoughts, surging in his brain all at once: the concern for his daughter and his lifelong friend, but also the concern _for_ the woman sleeping on his couch, not of. What was more concerning was his familiarity with her, almost as if he already _knew_ her, which was impossible. He never forgot a face in his life, the young man was always known for his intellect and professionalism. In an abrupt motion, Sesshomaru threw the blankets off of his body and calmly tiptoed down the hallway to check on the stranger, partly, because he was concerned with her morality and wanted to be sure that she was asleep and not robbing him, but also because he wanted to see if he could try to recognize her.

As he peeked around the corner, he was relieved to find that she was asleep on the couch, snug as could be, facing the couch and comfortable under the blankets, only her shoulders exposed. The woman certainly was not reluctant to make herself at home, but Sesshomaru also figured that the last time she had sleep on a padded surface was years ago—that is, unless, her story was a lie, but Sesshomaru didn't doubt it, there had been a history with human trafficking in the country's modern times and her frantic behavior didn't appear to be an act. Furthermore, with even the small fraction of her back exposed, Sesshomaru could see the burn she elaborately explained earlier curling along her left shoulder blade, just underneath the strap of her dress and then hiding beneath the rest of the blanket and he had noticed earlier when he convinced her to get off of that ledge.

Sesshomaru had been in the hallway for barely a second before the woman stirred in her sleep, tossing over onto her other side and draping her hand over the end of the couch. He prepared to apologize for disturbing her and cursed himself for waking her: she wasn't going to rob him if she was _sleeping_ , and now that she was awake, how could he sleep soundlessly? He caught himself before speaking, noticing that the young woman was still breathing quietly, the rise and fall of her chest following the calm pattern that sleep brings with a soft face and closed eyes. With his eyes straining, the man focused on the details of her face: round cheeks; swollen, red lips; the dark hair, cut with a sharp fineness across her forehead while the rest cascaded down in waves; there was something increasingly familiar about the young woman, he was _certain_ that he knew her. The drive for this thought process came from deep inside his chest, as if it were a hollow hole that would consume any of his other tribulations to gather more attention to the howling question: _where had he seen her before?_ His eyes traveled to the floor in thought as his mind searched through the faces that he knew at some point or another, yet her face never revealed itself in the banks of his memory. For a few more moments, he allowed himself to be calmed by her serenity as she dreamed, trying his best to erode any thoughts that meant he knew her, but the haunting feeling lingered in his gut.

As swiftly as he entered, the young surgeon exited, taking care not to be too loud as he walked past his daughter's room, who was, hopefully, sleeping soundly tonight. As a father, it was nerve-racking that such a young girl had so many nightmares, but none of them seem to be riddled with any subconscious tendencies or repeated. If her nightmares escalated any further, he was certain that he would take her to a doctor, but perhaps he was just anxious since she wasn't in his care for her first years. Of course, Jaken told him that she would get over it, she was still young and would probably forget whatever it was that was straining the little girl, but still… Sesshomaru wanted to make sure that Rin had a good life, starting with a healthy mind. It seemed that as he passed her room, though, that there were nothing besides the faint little breaths that were associated with the calm brought about by pleasant dreams. Upon entering his own room, he found that A-Un had claimed the bed as his own, asleep on his back in the center of it, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. The man's generally flat face seemed to widen the frown that hung there. As gently as he could, he pushed the dog to the right side of the queen sized bed, and the dog made an audible groan as it fell over onto its left side.

Settling into bed, he couldn't muster the strength to look at the clock, it was early in the morning and dawn was approaching, and he was anything but sure that he'd be able to sleep in. Still, sleep seemed to run away from his grasp like a child trying to catch birds on the beach. Insomnia hadn't been a stranger to Sesshomaru in the past; it was almost as if he barely needed to sleep, just as long as he rested every now and then. Yet, he knew the core cause of his sleepless rest this time, the surgeon couldn't figure out where he had met the woman before. Even her name seemed familiar on his tongue, as if he had been saying it all his life. Resting his eyes for a moment, he stopped to stare up at the ceiling, seeming like a void in the darkness of the night. Silently, his fingers tapped against the sides of the bed, he heard A-Un snort in his sleep, he listened as cars passed by in the streets below every now and again, the chortling of young people's laughter that were just getting in for the night. Not even the lull of the city could drive Sesshomaru to sleep, so he picked out the oldest trick in the book. By the time the long-haired man had counted seventy-three sheep, the mask of sleep had drifted over him, and he peacefully fell into the unconcerned slumber.

 _The feeling of the wind against his body seemed to be weak and impartial to his movements through the sky. Whatever force was driving him was pumping with rage, fear, and fervor. For whatever reason, he couldn't fly fast enough. Clenching his jaw, his brows furrowed and he bent forward, hoping that the change in position would increase the aerodynamics and bring him closer to his target. A fragrance was the source of his ambition, the curdling scent of blood: a life to save. The monster's words were ringing through his head like an undying echo, piercing his ear drums and ripping at him inside._

 _"_ _She'll have died in vain."_

 _An animalistic growl grew in his throat, he felt the rage surge through him each time that sentence repeated in his head, propelling him forward as fast as he could. Countless times, he could've saved her, countless times, this could've been prevented, but now that the thought of it was staring him dead in the eye, he realized the dismay of it. But there was still a chance, he could still save her. The scent grew stronger with the wind as he neared his destination. He straightened his body preparing for descent. Nothing was fast enough, nothing was strong enough, nothing was_ good _enough. Every inch of him surged with a storm of desperation, something he wasn't accustomed to, but he would make it. Her scent was still there, he could get to her; she still had a chance. As his feet pressed to the ground, he gathered his surroundings._

 _The aroma of nectar and blood filled Sesshomaru's nostrils: a strange combination, but there was no questioning that those were the two enveloping him. The scent of nectar was understandable as he stood in the middle of a strange meadow, covered as far as the eye could see in a blanket of white flowers. The crunches beneath his feet were ever so subtle as he looked around at his surroundings. A clear sky, really, it was a beautiful day. Nothing was better than days like this, barely a cloud in sight. The meadow was walled by the tallest trees he had ever seen, filled with hints of greens and yellows as the light from the sun bounced off of them. Suddenly, his mind returned to the task at hand, locating the source of the scent of blood. A small voice murmured near him, he couldn't catch what it said, but his eyes shot down to the ground in front of him to the epicenter of the voice: A woman, a woman he was trying to save._

 _He couldn't see her face, not really, he was focused on seeing who he was trying to save, but, when she looked up at him, her face remained in the shadows. The traditional garb she wore, bright pink and white, was drenched in blood, pale skin roughened by dirt, fingernails muddied by the dried blood that crust beneath them. One of her hands gracefully was held to the open wound, which seemed to be the center of a pulse that reeked of decay. What seemed to be in the form of ash was the same scent encased her, as if she were eroding away._

 _Without question, Sesshomaru involuntarily reached for the hilt of the sword that clung to his side. A sadness rushed over him, not strong enough to show in his face, but he tightened his grip on the hilt, as if that would somehow be of help; he felt it deep in his core, trying to plunder through, like an alien entity trying to escape his body. As quickly as he felt the emotion, he also masked it under the façade of an expressionless face. The woman below him fidgeted, her body bowing slightly, and a wave of ash seemed to fall from her body into the air around them. She was hopeless. His fingertips daintily removed themselves from the hilt of the sword and he returned it to his side. The woman below him either refused to look at him or didn't have the strength to crane herself up._

 _"_ _Are you leaving?" the words escaped his lips without the realization that he was the one speaking._

 _"_ _Yes," the hoarse voice responded, the sound resonating in his ears with its recognizable tone. "It's enough. I…" her words cut off as she mustered the strength to stare up at him. Her round face, swollen red lips stretched up into a smile, straight cut bangs across her forehead, dark hair cascading back into her elaborate up do: Kagura. The wind picked up as she fell backwards, disintegrating into nothing as she disappeared before his eyes. The wind ran through his hair like waves, feeling it along his back and face. His eyes shut tight for a second, cursing himself for his inability to save her, to prove that monster wrong._

 _The name hung on his lips._

 _Kagura._

Sesshomaru jilted awake with a gasp, heart beating in his chest. Immediately, he realized that he was safe in his own bed. The eggshell colored walls around him fenced him in, the window open with a breeze blowing in through the screen as the curtains, the sounds of car horns as traffic tried to move with ease through the city (failing, as it normally did), his familiar nightstand, his photos of home, his paintings hung on the walls in his room illuminated by the natural light seeping in, his home. Kagura's dying face still etched in his mind, where had that dream come from? He pressed his hands into his forehead as his elbows rested on his knee caps, eyes closed as finger tips massaged against his skin. It was a rough night, he drank coffee before he slept, and he was trying to figure out where he'd seen her before: that was all. Logic could only explain the brain, it was a machine just like a computer, inputting and outputting random integers all day. The reason he saw her in traditional garb was because they had been talking about a story from eons ago, and imagining the sword was because he had the mended one next to his bed side. Nothing other than the logic could be used to explain the dream.

 _Could've saved her countless times_ … He pressed the thought away, back into the corners of his mind where it belonged. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on his current location. Turning to face the clock, he realized that it was quite late, it was 10:30, and somehow, Jaken had managed to keep Rin quiet enough to allow him to sleep.

That's when the high-pitched scream resonated through the hallway; he listened as it grew closer, followed by the grumblings of an old man. Summer had been treating the housekeeper quite roughly as he helped with taking care of the child. He watched as his daughter speeded by, holding a blanket above her head as she raced through the hallway. Jaken was hunched over, attempting to keep up, hissing at her to quiet down. When Rin had made her round through the hallway, she turned around and headed back, stopping in front of Sesshomaru's room as she noticed the figure that was no longer lying down in bed, but upright and awake. A small smile crawled on his face when she tossed the blanket down and sprinted to the bed.

"Papa!" she squealed as she jumped on next to him. "You're up!" her tiny arms wrapped around his torso, and he placed one hand on her back for support.

"Yes, I am. Did you eat breakfast, yet?" Sesshomaru pushed the hair on her forehead back. She needed a haircut, soon, at least her bangs. He'd have to take care of that later. The little girl shook her head no.

"I said to wait for you. But I eated some fruit. I'm sorry."

Four years olds weren't supposed to have any sense of selflessness, which was what surprised Sesshomaru about the young girl the most. She felt him curl up between the space of his arm and armpit, resting her head on his chest, her tiny hands pressed up against her knees.

"Sesshomaru, sir!" Jaken's voice called out as he entered the room, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "Good morning! Did you sleep well?" Sesshomaru puckered his lips as he cast a glance over at Jaken.

"Well enough. Is Kagura still here?" Sesshomaru questioned, looking down at Rin who was sporadically making silly faces up at her father. Another smile was brought to his face, it couldn't be help. Other parents were right when they described their children as bundles of joy. Children could also be a pain, difficult to manage, and they brought a whole second set of anxieties to the playing field, but for the most part, they brought happiness.

"Who?" Jaken asked as he finally straightened out his body. Sesshomaru glared at the housekeeper, his mouth flat in a line while his eyes bore into the housekeeper as he leaned back on his hand in agitation.

"The woman. The woman I brought home. The _reason_ I asked you to stay here," Sesshomaru bluntly articulated. It was always a hindrance that Jaken would forget important details, but there was his age to account for, and the fact that at times the man could be plain stupid; he still kept him around though. For the most part, the old man did a good job.

"Oh, yes! She's actually still asleep. I don't know how she did it with the ruckus. I'm not sure exactly how _you_ slept through all that noise, sir, but she's still here. Should I wake her…?"

"No," Sesshomaru remained still for a moment, his eyes pinpointed on the foot of his bed before he vacated his bed. "I'm going to change now. I'll see you both out in a moment." Jaken hustled Rin out of the room, who was still grinning ear to ear. The second that the two were outside, Rin's high pitch squealing and the sound of the taps that her feet made when she ran moved up and down the hallways again.

Sesshomaru walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer, revealing a well organized section of dress shirts, all ironed and folded in a meticulous manner. He picked out one from the top layer, a plain white button up (he had about ten in the drawer). He shifted down to the second drawer, picked out pair of pressed khakis and headed over to the shower to begin his daily routine. Generally, Sesshomaru took brisk showers in order to save time for his family; minutes that he spent in his own self-indulgence, no matter how many, still took away time that could've been well spent walking A-Un, taking Rin to see whatever children's movie was out now, or ordering Jaken around. Work consumed a great deal of his time, so he rationed out his time as well as possible. Today though, his shower was far more hurried than normal, he wanted to be out in the main room of his apartment before Kagura woke up so that he could prepare for her departure, which was a nice way of saying he was planning to kick her out.

 _Countless times, he could've saved her countless times_.

"WEEEEEEE-WOOOOOOOO," Rin screeched as she passed by her father as he exited the room. Sesshomaru stopped for a second, almost running into the little girl, her arms outstretched as if she were an airplane, her blanket tied around her neck. After realizing what had happened (which didn't take too long, since this was usually part of his morning routine) he waltzed out toward the living room to find Jaken with his head in his hands in defeat, A-Un lying down on the ground, his ears lowered in annoyance, and the young woman still sleeping, or at least pretending to be. But by the movement of her chest, she seemed to remain in a deep slumber.

"Rin," Sesshomaru called out, and the little girl came sprinting back, running right into the arm of the chair, using it to stop her momentum.

"Yes, Papa?"

"What do you want for breakfast?" Sesshomaru asked, heading over to the kitchen in a manner of grace. Rin pattered behind him, when they both reached the kitchen, the father patiently stood in front of the sink waiting for the young girl to respond. She tugged on his dress shirt, and he looked down at her.

"Can we have miso soup? I want an egg, too," her eyes were big and pleading. It was typical for them to have such a breakfast, Sesshomaru never understood why he always felt as though the little girl was begging to be fed, but he always figured it had to deal with her life before she was adopted. Sesshomaru ruffled his daughter's hair.

"Of course, do you want it fried? Or do you want it with rice?" She began to jump in place.

"Fry it! Fry it!" she giggled. "I like the sound it makes when it hits the pan. Woooosshhhh." Her arms flew out in front of her as if she were trying to mimic a witch casting a spell. She certainly had the energy associated with children her age, as Sesshomaru began to remove all the proper materials to make the meal in question, he noticed that Rin had stopped and was looking over at Kagura. "Are you going to make her food, too, Papa?"

"Yes, it's only polite since she's our guest, Rin," Sesshomaru assured, he turned the heat on the stove as to start heating up both the frying pan and the dashi stock in the pot for the soup. He felt the small tug of his daughter's pull on his shirt again and looked down to find her with her arms up in the air, her head held into her chin with her eyes turned up. Without question, Sesshomaru knelt down and picked her up so that she hung at his side. She outstretched her hands to the counter; once again, Sesshomaru knew what she wanted without asking and sat her down on the marble. She kicked her legs, pounding her feet in rhythm against the wood of the cabinets below as she watched her father prepare their first meal of the day. The scent of the broth brought A-Un over to the kitchen as well, and he sat directly behind Sesshomaru as he began to cut up the ingredients for the soup.

"I dreamed about Ms. Kagura yesterday," Rin piped up. Sesshomaru stopped his actions for a second, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he returned to the task at the cutting board.

"I don't 'member what happened, but I know she was in it," the little girl hummed. "I like her, she's nice."

"You didn't talk to her that long," Sesshomaru addressed Rin with soothing tone in his voice.

"She's nice," Rin badgered, before reaching over to sneak a carrot behind her back and then quickly passing it down to the dog that sat below them whimpering.

"You shouldn't give the dog scraps, Rin," Sesshomaru lectured, resulting in a sigh from the little girl.

"If you were a doggy, would you want to only eat kibble?" Rin questioned, Sesshomaru began to mix the ingredients into the stock and he looked over at the young girl pouting her lip with a hand on his hip.

"No, I don't think I would like that. But if you want to give A-Un food, you have to make sure that he can eat it first, otherwise he could get sick. And you have to ask me, too, okay?" Sesshomaru raised both his eyebrows to reiterate the statement and waited for Rin to nod before he went back to making breakfast. As Sesshomaru began to fry the egg, hoping to give Rin something to eat before the soup was ready; a knock interrupted the warm aura in the apartment. No one ever could come in unless they were buzzed in, and Sesshomaru certainly hadn't buzzed anyone up to his apartment, and he wasn't expecting any guests. He reached over and placed Rin down on the floor as he nudged her out of the kitchen.

"Rin, go to your room and close the door, this is work stuff. Remember to stay quiet, since I'm working," Sesshomaru lied under his breath as to not worry his daughter. She nodded before scuttling off to her room. Sesshomaru motioned for Jaken to follow him and when he looked in through the peephole, there were two young men standing in front of the door, discussing something. He pressed his ear to the door, trying to catch whatever any part of their conversation: he could only catch fragments.

"Listen, Naraku said 62,000 yen for her alive and only 12,400 for her dead, so we best make damn sure that we bring her back alive, you big lug, you hear me? Or I'll make you sorry," the first voice was high pitched and hoarse, reminding Sesshomaru very of a weasel or a rat. Immediately, Sesshomaru was certain that they were referring to Kagura. Only a person as vicious as the one she described would put a price so low on someone's life.

"How do we know it's her?" a second booming voice questioned, Sesshomaru held a finger up to Jaken as to make sure he didn't say a word.

"Well, we don't. He doesn't have a damn idea where she is. We just know that she was somewhere in this area last night. My guess is that she's gone by now."

They were going on a wild goose chase; there was no reason for them to suspect that Kagura was in his home. Sesshomaru reluctantly unchained the lock, but didn't unhook it as he opened the door.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Sesshomaru questioned. Jaken stood behind him, clearly nervous by the situation. Sesshomaru almost wanted to send him back with Rin, but at this point, he didn't want to alert to the strangers that there was a child in the house.

"Hi, we're with the police. We heard last night that you were seen with a woman? About 160 cm, she has dark hair, rather thin," the first man spoke; he had a certain gleam in his eye that Sesshomaru immediately disliked.

"Can I see your badges?" Sesshomaru questioned. The two men shared a confused look, as if they hadn't encountered a scenario where they were questioned on their authority. "Unless I see your badges, you have no right to be asking me anything." Sesshomaru began to close the door on the two, but the first speaker placed his hand in the doorway. He had a skeleton like appearance, with a suit on that was far too large for him frame. If he was trying to make himself appear larger, he was doing the opposite. Sesshomaru's indifference to the thought of taking off the man's fingers by slamming the door was overwhelming, but at the same time, he was concerned about his carpeting. The glare that Sesshomaru cast to the gaunt man was enough to go through his bony body, and he saw the larger man behind him take a step back in intimidation.

"Listen, we just want to ask you a few questions," the first speaker recited. The tone in his voice seemed as that he had regurgitated the same information several times before, and was trying to make the same trick work once more. It was more than obvious that these two were not members of any sort of police force and now it was Sesshomaru's goal to get them away from his home and keep it that way.

"Listen, you just described half the women in Japan. I want you to leave, now," Sesshomaru growled in his lowest octave, his head down turned so that the level of intimidation he evoked increased. The man swallowed nervously before he smiled again with a chuckle.

"Who's that lady on your couch?" Sesshomaru looked over his shoulder; they did have a clear view of Kagura. Nerves immediately coursed through him as he quickly came up with a lie to protect his household and the woman who lay on the couch.

 _Countless times, he could've saved her countless times._

"That's my _wife_ ," Sesshomaru hissed at the man. The man's grin grew wider with maliciousness; Sesshomaru wanted to reach over and pierce both his eyes with his fingers and feel nothing from the action. It was possible, the man was being completely rude and Sesshomaru's tolerance for rudeness and any sort of annoying behavior was limited, if anything, it was nonexistent.

"Had a fight then, huh? You've got balls making her sleep on the couch," the man smirked. "Listen, let me just for little bit of time. We won't be any trouble."

"She came home late last night, she's a hard worker," Sesshomaru explained calmly. Although his tone seemed as cool as an ocean breeze, his eyes were filled with contention, his brows furrowed in a rough line in between his eyes. "I want you to leave. Now."

"Can we please just-?"

"Leave now or I'm going to call the authorities, and give them very descriptive details of your identities and let them know that you're impersonating police men. How dare you come into my home and question _me_. You're lucky that I haven't alerted them already. How do you expect to pass as police officers without badges? You stay away from my home or I'll make you sorry you ever came with passing distance of it," Sesshomaru smacked his hand on the wall, which rattled the scrawny thug to retract his hand and gave Sesshomaru the room to slam the door in his face. Promptly, Sesshomaru pressed his ear up against the door once more to see if he could listen in on the rest of their conversation.

"Gee, what a piece of shit," the second speaker muttered, his voice low and brawny.

"Yeah, you're telling me," the scrawny guy remarked. The sound of his foot as it pounded on the door shook him, and riled him. "Hey, ASSHOLE, we were just going to ask if you saw ANYONE ELSE with the bitch. Well, _fuck you_ and your wife!" Sesshomaru balled his hand into a fist, fingernails digging into his skin. A wave of calm came over him, the expression on his face changed from ire to a blank one, and the housekeeper who was watching over the situation was completely unsure as to which face rooted him in fear more.

"C'mon, let's get out of here. We'll find her, 'kay?" the lug muttered. There was a pause, Sesshomaru couldn't help but wonder if they were still standing outside of his door and staring in or if they had walked away.

"Yeah, let's bounce," the scrawny parasite concluded. Sesshomaru peered up to look through the peep-hole, the two men were gone and he could breathe easy. Although, he certainly wouldn't have minded put those two back in their place. He gave out a restful exhale and turned to Jaken.

"They're gone," he complied before brushing past the housekeeper.

"Sesshomaru, sir! What on earth was that about? Why… Were they looking for _her_?" Jaken questioned as he turned around to look at Sesshomaru who stood over the couch, looking down at Kagura.

She wasn't sleeping anymore, her eyes wide and filled to the brim with tears, clutching at her heart, her body curled up with her mouth agape.

"You… You didn't have to do that," her whisper was discordant with a taste of panic. Sesshomaru bowed his head and closed his eyes: that wasn't all together true. He opened his eyes to look down at her, she was smiling. "…Thank you," she whispered, turned her head away, closing her eyes, as if doing so would hide the frantic tears that were there. "I'm grateful, thank you." He remained above her as she shuddered, the fight to hold back her chortling tears was one she was losing, and part of him felt as though he had to stay calm by her side, as if somehow it would help in the slightest bit.

"I'm making breakfast, would you like some?" he finally choked the silence out of the room. Kagura didn't speak, she nodded her head. He could see her struggle, between trying to put up a front and be serious and brave and falling apart, there was no room for him to judge her. He headed back to the kitchen and listened to her quiet dry heaving.

Jaken stood aghast by the door, "You're going to let her _stay_? After all of _that_?" he plundered over to Sesshomaru, preparing some sort of speech as to lecture Sesshomaru on matters he already was well aware of.

"I never said I'd let her stay," Sesshomaru stated as he placed Rin's fried egg on a plate for her and stirred the soup. He paused, staring out the window to the skyscrapers that were in his view. It was almost as if déjà vu had hit him again, all because of that stupid dream. "She'll have breakfast and she'll leave. It's only what's right."

"Good, because she's a threat to all of us," her quiet sobs seemed to become louder at that statement before they refined themselves again. "She needs to leave as soon as possible. It's not our fault if anything happens to her and you know it. Obviously, this is a situation she got herself into—"

"And so she can get herself out. But you're speaking of things you know nothing about, Jaken. I already said that she would leave. If you continue to tell me things I already know about, I have no use for you and you can go home," Sesshomaru threatened, he turned to look over at the couch where Kagura laid, wondering what was running through her mind. Was it relief? Was it terror? A strange cocktail of the two? The surgeon knew he didn't owe her anything, Jaken was correct, she was nothing but a hindrance to his family, but still, that dream's voice echoed quietly in the corner of his mind.

 _Countless times, he could've saved her countless times._


	5. Chapter 5: Cuts Like a Knife

AN: First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who's been following the story (whether you followed it on or you're just reading it as I post it on tumblr), everyone who's favorited the story, and everyone who has left reviews! I really appreciate everything you guys have done, it really means a lot to me and I hope you're enjoying the story! **This chapter will get a little violent, so I just wanted to warn the readers before hand, even though it is M for violence and disturbing subject matter.**

Also, I don't own Inuyasha.

 _"_ _Everyone comes with baggage. Find someone who loves you enough to help you unpack."_

 _-Unknown_

Cuts Like a Knife

Breakfast was uncomfortably silent, Kagura still shaken by the notion that she could've been taken back, tortured, and killed probably; Sesshomaru was silent as to imply that nothing had occurred earlier so that his daughter would be at peace; and Rin remained silent since the tension in the room nourished a brooding aura. The slight thud of Rin's foot hitting the edge of the table in its rhythm seeming to cause Jaken to jump with each bump: it was the only sound in the room. Sesshomaru looked up from his bowl to eye his daughter's face, which was distraught as she sucked on a piece of tofu that remained in her chopsticks: the behavior meant she was uncomfortable, which Sesshomaru hated to see.

"Rin," Sesshomaru started, the little girl peaked up, a mouthful of soup causing her cheeks to puff out, "Would you please stop kicking the table?" she gulped down the soup and nodded her head somberly. "What do you want to do today?" he questioned as he lifted his bowl nearer to his face to make eating the breakfast easier.

"Can we go to the park?" Rin requested eagerly, immediately lifting her head out of her shoulders and up towards her father with a large smile on her face. The young girl's whole body leaned forward, practically falling over onto the table. The man returned a soft smile to the young girl, repressing a chuckle at her eagerness.

"Didn't you go to the park yesterday?"

"It's a _realllyyyyy_ nice park, Papa, I really like it there, and I can bring A-Un and he can play with the other doggies and it's a lot of fun," Rin rambled as she began to fidget with her chopsticks in her soup, picking up ingredients and dropping them back in. Sesshomaru gave her the slightest look of disapproval so that she ate again rather than play with her food. Kagura remained silent, even as she ate, the quiet that came from her end of the table was so stilling and Sesshomaru didn't know whether he should break it or not. Rin, however, did not contain the uncertainty that comes with age, addressed the woman with a disregard for what was polite or not.

"Are you going to the park with us, Ms. Kagura?" Rin inquired, Sesshomaru took a deep breath and did his best to not appear annoyed or flustered with the question. The whole purpose of letting Kagura eat with them was only out of kindness, the intention was not to have her stay another day, in fact, he would prefer it if the familiar woman would leave and he could continue with his life as it had been, just him and his daughter, without the nonsense that having Kagura with them brought. Caught off guard by the statement, Kagura nervously fluttered her eyes to Sesshomaru and then back to Rin, who seemed to be insistent in the notion that Kagura go with them to the park.

"I suppose I can go, if your father doesn't mind," Kagura's eyes flashed up to Sesshomaru when she finished addressing his daughter and that wave of familiarity dawned over him again. Something about the concerned and confused look in her eyes brought his attention instantly to her face, there was a level of uncertainty that she carried alongside her confidence. Overall, her posture suggested she was a proud woman, standing tall, ignoring the misdeeds occurring around her, but the flash in her eyes made Sesshomaru question how high her self-esteem truly was.

"No! Absolutely not!" Jaken squawked in disapproval, "That is _outrageous_ , how could you be so _selfish_? As to impose yourself upon the man of this good house. He has done enough for you."

"Jaken," Sesshomaru interrupted with a low voice, "She can come if she wants."

Jaken stuttered in confusion, unsure of how to react to his employer's contradiction, "B-b-but, sir-!" Sesshomaru raised a hand to silence him, and Jaken's eye brows furrowed in frustration as he went back down to finish his breakfast. Kagura gawked at Sesshomaru with her mouth slightly agape, just as in much shock as the housekeeper. Rin grinned gleefully and continued to eat as well. Kagura remained the only one at the table still in awe at what she considered a drastic change of events.

"Finish eating," Sesshomaru pointed towards her bowl with his own utensils and Kagura did, still unsure as to why he was keen on helping her when he seemed to continuously remind her that she needed to vacate the premises as soon as possible, as if he was pushing back the time line. He had already saved her twice, did he just pity her? She couldn't help but notice the softness of his features, such as the almond shape of his eyes and his petite nose that seemed to be mixed in with sharp edges of his cheekbones and the hardness in his hands. Overall, he was cold, in all the actions that had taken place his seemed to have this ice that covered his skin like a wall. The only time it seemed to melt away was when he was speaking with his daughter, which was an admirable feature as a parent, but as a person, it made him hard to understand. Kagura always figured she was a "people" person; she had to be if she wanted to make money, but whatever it was about Sesshomaru, she couldn't quite figure him out and it was bothersome.

"Listen, you've helped me plenty," Kagura began, but the statement was met with a glare. The man quickly flashed his eyes towards his daughter and back at her, implicating that the matter would be remain silent as long as Rin was in their presence. Kagura's eyes shifted away, her mouth held open, still, as if she were preparing another protest, with eyes widened in disapproval. "I—" Sesshomaru's brows furrowed, the light brown color seeming aflame with distaste in her probable statement.

Kagura eyed Rin, who was peering up at the two adults with a cofounded look on her face; her mouth drooped into a delicate state of unhappiness and eyes twinkling with the same emotion. The woman sighed, her chopsticks smacking softly against the edge of the bowl as she dropped her arms and shoulders in defeat, of course he didn't want her to speak about his help in front of his daughter. The man was concerned with the morbidity of the story she recalled to him the night before and what effect it would have on the four year olds sheltered, innocent ears. The young woman was unsure as how to take the action though, that of a protective father, or as an insult as to how she behaved around children?

"Rin, I'd love to go to the park with you, thank you for asking me," she gave a shy smile to the little girl, who's concern waned and she entranced herself in the remainder of her meal. Kagura pondered on her previous thought; did Sesshomaru really believe she would bring up the topics that were in play with her life around a _four_ year old? They hadn't known each other for long, no, just those few hours earlier that day, but certainly he couldn't believe that anyone would discuss those topics around children? The young woman finished the rest of her soup with shoulders hoisted up; stretching the rest of her body up as she slouched over, her posture was the epitome of annoyance.

"Such a rude woman!" Jaken's opinionated tone was met with both casts of eyes from Kagura and Sesshomaru. Kagura, who was simply trying to keep from imposing on her helpers, felt like reaching across the table and choking out the shriveled old man, and Sesshomaru for having to put up with the housekeepers cross comments on a daily basis.

Once the four patrons had finished breakfast, the tension in the room seemed break off. Kagura's arms crossed in front of her chest, legs out stretched in front of her. She was still wearing the dress from the previous night, and it was hard to deny the fact that it was becoming uncomfortable; snug in all the right places to cater to her body, but at the same time, wound too tight and squeezing her, as if she were stuffing in an ill fitting shell. Dragging the heels of her feet along the carpeting, she pressed her toes into the floor, relishing the feeling of it as if she were an animal that finally could frolic through the grass after a long winter. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Sesshomaru knelt next to his daughter, struggled to put Rin's shoes on, the little girl kept pulling her feet away from her father's hands, grumbling about wanting to be bare footed.

"Well, you can't not wear shoes in the city, Rin. You can take your shoes off once we get to the park, but I don't want you stepping on glass," he reasoned. Kagura scoffed, the calm manner of addressing such a non-complacent child seemed to be logical, but at the same time, children were difficult to reason with: they weren't selfless creatures. The little girl held out her pinky, her whole body leaning forward trying to reach up toward her father, the small arm outstretched as if she were reaching for the moon.

"You have to pinky promise!"

The young man held out his hand, his pinky finger enveloping the little girl's, who let out a small laugh in victory, and Kagura felt her heart warm up the slightest amount at the sight. Sesshomaru slapped his hands against his thighs and bent forward at the waist.

"Now you have to keep your end of the promise." He held out his hand and patiently waited until a tiny foot's heel found its way to his finger tips; the socks on her feet were just too big so that it hung off the edge of her toes. Sesshomaru grabbed hold of the end of the sock and hoisted it up so that it fit properly; the ruffles that marked the end of the sock now rose past her ankles. Sesshomaru handed the Mary-Jane styled yellow shoe over to the young girl, who he promptly assisted in putting it on the first foot. Initially, the daughter had placed her left foot into the right footed shoe, which caused several small "No's", to come from Sesshomaru, but he didn't shake his head, he just grabbed the shoe back and returned it to her. The little girl proceeded in the same manner as she had before. Kagura giggled, it wasn't that he was squirming; it was more that he had an endless task that wouldn't change unless his manner of approaching it changed soon. Sesshomaru glanced over at Kagura, and she immediately raised her hand up to cover her mouth, laughing even harder now that he seemed aggravated.

"What do you find amusing?" Sesshomaru pressed, and Kagura bit her lip, a smile still on her face. She leaned forward with a half-hearted chuckle.

"She's so young, she needs to be shown how to do stuff, still," Kagura explained. Sesshomaru's face fell back into the constant emotionless expression he generally carried, and turned to look at his daughter.

"Rin, how do your shoes feel when you put them on like that?" Sesshomaru asked, still holding the yellow shoe in his hand. Rin twiddled her feet, looking down at her toes.

"Not nice," she whispered. "That's why I don't wanna wear them."

"They don't feel nice because you're putting them on the wrong feet, Rin," he taught, he gave the shoe back to his daughter. Rin took it and placed the shoe on the correct foot with the help of Sesshomaru holding the back of the shoe, stretching the elastic, making it easier for her. He promptly looked over at Kagura, the same expression on his face, but she couldn't help but feel that he was showing her up. It was hard not to smile at him; he was amusing in a strange sense: a brooding, quiet, sweetheart, who pretended he was anything but the last thing. She shrugged her shoulders and crossed her ankles in front of her, leaning back on her hands.

"Do you want something else to wear?" Sesshomaru asked, he was standing beside her now; her body jumped, unsuspecting of the man next to her—she hadn't seen him rise up.

"I mean, do you really have something else for me to wear?" Kagura raised her eye brows, noticing that he stretched out his fingers and relaxed them when she asked.

"I have some t-shirts," Sesshomaru suggested.

"Just a t-shirt. That sounds like a solid outfit right there," she grinned up at him, baring all teeth, but he kept the same vacant, far off look on his face, clearly not amused by Kagura's attempt at humor. Kagura looked down at her feet, the smile draining away as she bit her lip. "I think I'll be fine," she hummed.

"Fine." He left her sitting as he went back to put on his own coat, and the corners of his lips rose as he reached down for his daughter's hand, whispering something to her about the adventures for that day.

Kagura stood up, her knees wobbling as she did so. Her hair was a disaster from sleeping the night before, ends standing up on the left side where her head had laid down; she could feel the make-up smeared on her face, the oil in her pores from where her foundation had sunk in. Honestly, she was afraid to look at herself in the mirror, and nothing would've said "I don't belong with this family" more than her appearance in the current situation.

"Do you mind if I wash up, though?" Kagura asked, running her hands through her hair, feeling the grease from the night before. At least she had items to help put her hair up, she had worn them the night before, her bobby-pins and hair ties were probably somewhere on the couch.

"The bathroom is at the end of the hall," Sesshomaru stated, not bothering to look up at the young woman. Kagura nodded her head and past the three of them, practically all set to go out to the park. As she walked toward the end of the hallway, she could hear Jaken complaining about her rudeness once again, discussing the fact that she waited until the last second to ask to use the facilities. The young woman suppressed an audible groan, but rolled her eyes—she was getting sick of the old housekeeper.

The bathroom smelled like bleach and disinfectant the second she walked in, the scent was overwhelming, she didn't expect much else from a doctor, to be honest. The bathroom was a pristine white; everything in the room seemed to flicker with a shine that only meant that it was cleaned on a daily basis. The mirror didn't have a single speck on it, so she received a clear image of her face looking at—she disgusted herself, but then again, the self hate was always there: ever since her "work" began, she felt nothing but spite and remorse when it came to her body. She wasn't a person, but a tool, a means to an end, nothing but a doll for men to use as they pleased so that more men could get money to do with as they pleased. After a long look at her own gaze, distorted by the surreal notion that she was looking at herself for what she was, knelt over and turned on the faucet in order to remove the grime of her face from the previous night. It felt like being renewed, every time she looked up, another layer had been worn away, getting closer to the core of who she was and not who she had been forced to be. It was safe to say she felt free, but also terrified for her life. The boss was looking for her, she wasn't sure how long she could hide, but living in the city would make it impossible. The first route she would take would be out to the country, rename herself, work, and at least then she'd have a chance. Whereas in the city, the eyes of the yakuza were everywhere, and while they may not all specifically be looking for her, she knew that some were. Opening up the door connected to the mirror, she reached in for a brush and found one to slowly detangle her hair. Passing the brush along the delicate strands softly, the knots wore away just in the same manner, layer by layer, she cleaned herself.

"You're taking a long time."

"Fuck!" Kagura breathed as she slammed the cabinet door shut to see Sesshomaru's reflection. She twisted around, her hands up against the sink as she leaned back, one reaching up to her heart as if covering it would slow its spiked rate. "You keep doing that! Can't you be even the slightest bit more…"

The surgeon raised his eyebrows at her, waiting for the final part of her sentence.

"I don't know, less invisible or something?" With the brush in her hand, she returned to the previous task, looking at Sesshomaru in the mirror as he studied her movements. Kagura slowed the pace at which the brush moved through her hair, the sure stare began to concern her. Generally, when men stared at her, it was because she was objectified, and she couldn't help but feel the sensation overcome her now. Nothing on his face implied lust, but men could be statues that expect without giving, and Sesshomaru had given a lot. Perhaps he was expecting some sort of payment after she explained what she had done for work. "What is it?"

"You're wasting my daughter's time, hurry up," Sesshomaru stated, remaining in the doorway.

"No, why are you staring at me like that?" Kagura put the brush down on the sink, turning around to face the man, his eyes piercing through her as if he were searching for something.

"I'm not, you're wasting my time," the lie came off his lips with ease, but not enough for Kagura not to catch it. She walked slowly towards him, putting a hand on his chest, dropping a hip so that she could accentuate her curves. All the familiar habits of her job returning with ease: he wanted _something_. From what she had been told her whole life, she owed it to him.

"Something's the matter, huh?" Kagura grinned. "You are just a man, aren't you?"

"You look familiar, that's all," Sesshomaru explained while locking his eyes with hers. The young woman searched his eyes for the truth, but the phrase hadn't been a lie. Sesshomaru reached up with both his hands and removed hers from his chest, pushing her away slightly, clearly uncomfortable with the advance. Kagura looked him up and down, unsure as to how to feel by his behavior. "I don't want anything from you, is that clear?" Sesshomaru growled under his breath. Kagura swallowed hard and nodded, her respiration had spiked now—she wasn't fearful, but rather embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "It's just… The only way I've—"

"You don't have to say anything," Sesshomaru lifted his hand, closing his eyes and tilting his head, the other arm crossing his chest as he closed his posture to her. "Please don't do it again. I have a coat for you, if you're not comfortable going out in that," Sesshomaru eyed her outfit, not meant to be seen in daylight. Kagura placed her hands on her stomach, letting them lead down the curves of her body, biting her lip, and she sharply inhaled and breathed out erratically.

"This is the most anyone's done for me, before," Kagura whispered. "And you don't want anything for it…" Sesshomaru's gaze turned from emotionless to confused, his eyes focusing in on her and furrowing his brows before returning to the sullen emotionless look he carried. "No one's done anything for me without expecting sex in return. It's all I've been worth." She took a second deep breath as to regain her composure, smacking a hand against her forward, hoping that the pressure would relieve the pain that bore in her head and heart. When she looked up into the calm eyes, she couldn't help but notice the reflection of pity that hid behind the twinkle that they gave off. "If you said I seem familiar, I… worked in a gentlemen's club downtown—"

"That's not where it's from," Sesshomaru interrupted, turning around, his back tensed up and his arms crossed in front of his chest in aggravation. "Never been interested in those," he explained as he walked away. "Please, come along, I don't have much time to spend with my daughter, and I like to make the most of it. We can talk when we're at the park."

"So you haven't found her yet," a hoarse voice called out from the shadows. The two men looming with cigarettes in their mouth, startled by the sudden sound, immediately tossed their smokes to the ground and stomped them out. The skinnier man was the first to walk forward, a smile on his face and hands in his pockets while the larger one cowered behind him, continuing to stomp on the cigarette that refused to go out.

"Ay, boss!" the first one, "We weren't expecting you so early! What's happening?" the cheery smile immediately disappeared the second he was pressed up against the alley wall, a fingernails digging into his shirt and piercing his chest with an intense ferocity that made him cry out and as the bony man reached up to remove the hand, a second hand reached up to his throat, practically burying the man's neck into the wall. The pressure of the fingertips dug into his throat, constricting his airway immediately, and found it impossible to breathe immediately. His lungs cried out for air, but all he managed were the chortling sounds of struggle as his weakly slapped his hands against the attacker's. The skinny henchman struggled, kicking his feet and fighting for air as his boss lifted him off the ground. Deep brown eyes met his, black, greasy hair trickling down the sides of his face with a plain white shirt that contained blood stains from whatever work he had beforehand. A knife way buried into his belt, brown blood dried upon it so that it appeared rusty.

"I gave you one damn task, you were supposed to collect Kagura, and neither of you Neanderthals can do it," the boss hissed, face inches away from his victim's, gritting his jumbled teeth. "And what do I find, but the two of you taking a damn break? She could be getting on a _plane_ right now, and you're here having a _smoke_ —"

"Sir, we were just—"

"I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth, you stupid giant!" the boss reached into his belt and pointed it at the larger servant, "All bronze, but no brains for sure! You're too cowardly for the first part of that either, what's the point to you? Really? What's the point of having you around if you're worth shit?" The towering man stumbled forward, leaning in on himself, bowing his head in shame. "Damn right, that's what I thought."

The boss brought the knife up to the skinnier man's throat, loosening the grip around his windpipe. The man choked on the sudden intake in air, but the feeling of the rusty knife to his throat immediately caused him to cry out in fear, he could feel as it braced his skin, the smallest amounts of blood trickling out as his boss threatened his jugular. The longer he struggled, the weaker he felt, his hands wrapped around his boss'.

"Naraku… Please, give us another chance, it wasn't even the deadline yet, we can still find her," he chortled out. The boss gave him a smile, his eyes filled with bloodlust, the grip around the man's neck tightened so he couldn't breathe once again.

"Another chance?"

Legs were squirming, feet kicking up against the wall, and it shortly turned to heels bouncing against the brick as his energy depleted.

"You were supposed to be watching her last night, anyways, weren't you?" The man struggled for air, eyes rolling back into his head, fingertips weakly slapping at Naraku's wrist. The finger tips dived deeper into the throat, some tendon moved against Naraku's finger tips, and he watched at the man slowly lost blood flow to the head. "But she got away, because you morons drank too much," he seethed through gritted teeth. "Now my number one girl is gone and the flow of money that comes with her is gone, too. I've had it up to here with second chances, I gave you that chance when you told me you'd get her again, but what do you know? You fail at tracking items, too." The boss chuckled as he spoke, knowing that the victim could do nothing to prevent his fate.

"Naraku," the man choked, "I'm sorry, we'll… We'll get her back, I swear—"

"How am I supposed to pay people if I'm not making the same amount of money?" Naraku spat as he lowered the man to the ground, his fingers still taut around his employee's neck. "Guess that means I'm going to have to cut someone's payroll."

"Take whatever you want from our checks, Naraku, I swear, we'll find her," the larger man boomed. Naraku glared in his direction for a moment as the booming voice echoed in the alley, but he returned his focus to the brains of the team.

"Oh, no, I was thinking something far more _permanent_ ," Naraku sneered as his lips curled up into a smirk, he chuckled as his victim's eyes widened, his heels scuffled against the concrete of the ground, digging holes into the heels of his shoes, his finger tips tightening along Naraku's grip as he turned his head away.

"No! No, Naraku, please! Don't—!" the edge of the blade sliced against the flesh with the sound of air being sucked out as the two surfaces pressed against one another. Blood began to pour out of the man's neck, with mouth agape as he attempted to get air into his lungs, his hands rising up to his neck to cover the wound that was now there, except that it poured through and around his fingers, his eyes rolled back into his head, his feet stilled as the blood loss became too great for the sickly appearing man to handle, his hands cascaded down his body, smearing the blood against his white shirt as he did so until they plopped down until his lap in a lifeless form. The man's eyes rolled back into his head as he slouched up against the wall, and a death rattle escaped his lips, Naraku kneeling in to hear that final chance of life, and he inhaled it as if it were the scent that came from a field of flowers, taking pleasure in the scent of the now lifeless man. An eerie grin spread across his face, and he contorted his body to focus on the lumbering fool who had been scared stiff as he watched Naraku murder his partner.

"What a stupid ass you are, aren't you?" Naraku remarked, wiping the blood off his blade onto his un-tucked shirt, he was staring down at the ground as he strut forward, the large man backed against the wall, lifting his chin and shutting his eyes that were filled to the brim with tears. "You could've gotten away, why didn't you run?" Naraku ran the blade up from the man's hips to his neck, "You have anything you want to say?" he had the end of the blade pressed up against the second man's neck, preparing to drive it into his throat.

"I'm… I'm so sorry!" the man blubbered, hands pressed against the wall with finger nails scratching against the brick. His eyes opened wide at the sudden pressure that he felt against his neck. His hands wandered up to his throat to find the hilt of the blade, he made eye contact with his former boss, the devious look in his eyes only meant that he had derived pleasure from the murders, and the boss smirked at the look of shock that covered the man's face. He leaned forward, the smile disappearing into a hideous frown.

"Apology not accepted," Naraku hissed as he removed the knife and watched the man tumble over onto the ground. Stepping back as to avoid the larger man from falling onto his feet, he just as quickly stepped on top of the man and over him with complete disregard for the life lost in those moments. "No one loses money from me," Naraku grumbled as he cut the man's shirt open and carved out a spider into his back, being careful with the delicate flesh and avoided the burn that was placed upon the man's left shoulder. "That's the lesson to be learned from this." The thought flashed into Naraku's head, the burn meant that you were alive, living, there was a fire inside of you, but he made sure to mark his dead, too, so no one would treat him like a pushover.

When he was done with his work, he eyeballed the bloody knife, "I'll let this dry for you, Kagura," he whispered into the darkness. _That way, you'll have the blood of the others who lost their lives on your account in your bloodstream when I find you_ , he thought maliciously, which drew a smile across his face.

 _No one escapes me._


	6. Chapter 6: Pendulum

**A/N:** First and foremost, I'm sorry for such a long wait, you guys! I got caught up in the show, which made me realize I have to edit some chapters from before as well so it stays in canon. I really want to thank my beta reader **likethestarsthat-shine** , she pointed out quite a few mistakes and it flows much better now, so you guys can thank her for making this way more readable. :) Don't forget to review! I love reading them, even if they're critiqueful. Thank you again for reading!

" _Family: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."_

 _-Anonymous_

Pendulum

Gleeful cries echoed through the air along with the well known taps of children's feet crashing against grass and leaves as they ran through the park, climbing trees, inventing new lands and places, pretending that they were swimming through water and the only safe places were the swing sets that they crawled over, escaping reality to live within the fantasy only their imaginative minds could escape to. Barks resonated through the air, owners tugging at toys, balls, Frisbees, grunting in response as if they could talk to their pets. The wind passed along Kagura's shoulders. She could feel it through the coat, whipping her hair around her face as it gently caressed her cheeks, fingers, legs. The air was filled with the scent of a freshly cut lawn and the flowers that lay in the fields and trees along the hillside that was dedicated to the park.

Rin, who Sesshomaru had picked up halfway through the walk to the park, began to squirm in her father's arms, pushing against his shoulder as if trying to escape. Sesshomaru willingly set the child on the ground, and she immediately pressed forward as fast her little legs could carry her, her cries joining those that already filled the park with its content aura. The young father set the dog loose, too, untying the leash from around his collar and watching as A-Un chased after Rin, barking as she ran too far, which overshot Jaken's heeding on the exact same matter.

Kagura curled her lip and laughed as Jaken ran after the little girl, waving his cane at her as she went. Rin turned around, pulled on her ears, and stuck out her tongue, resulting in a catastrophic screeching from Jaken's end, which only made Kagura laugh louder, reaching up to cover her mouth with her fingers as she leaned back. The cool feeling of Sesshomaru's glare caused the hairs on the back of her neck to rise, and she turned to see him observing her, the same hard look on his face. Her shoulders hunched and she removed her hand from her mouth, suddenly feeling quite bashful. When her eyes caught his stare again, she found that a small smile had wrapped around his lips, which only caused a warm blush to rise up to her cheeks.

"…What is it?" Kagura sniped, covering her fluttering heart with her hand as she tightened the jacket around her. Sesshomaru seemed caught off-guard by her harsh attitude, but it wasn't anything to be astounded by: she had lived most of her life with men gawking.

"You have a loud laugh, nothing more," Sesshomaru clarified, placing his hands behind his back as he walked forward after his daughter. The young girl only didn't acknowledge her father's progression toward her and the dog and continued to run around, A-Un having finally caught up to her, and the two of them began to play, mostly consisting of Rin wrapping her arms around the dog's neck in the format of a hug, and A-Un graciously allowing the child to rough house him without harming her.

Without breaking contact from the dog, Rin glanced up to her father and a wide smile spread on her face as she lifted her arms up to him, begging to be lifted up. The father first held his arms akimbo, before reaching down and lifting Rin into the air above him and she let out a joyful shout, throwing her arms out to her side as if she were flying. Bringing her down to his side, Rin clutched onto her father's shoulders and face, making him seemingly uncomfortable, but still content. He bounced her at his waist, craning his neck forward and tilting his head so that their eyes met, yet the young stranger couldn't make out the conversation. Sesshomaru was quiet and meticulous, while his daughter's voice shouted out and pointed over to the playground where several other children were playing. The girl's father simply nodded his head in compliance, reaching his hands under her armpits so that he could lift her over his shoulders as means for travel.

Kagura sat down on the grass, not wanting to become involved in what was clearly a family activity and observed with a smile on her face. Rin pulled on her father's hair and he stopped in his walking toward to the structure, her tiny arm pointing back at Kagura and shouting out uncomfortably. Sesshomaru turned to Jaken, who was wrangling with A-Un as the dog refused to let the housekeeper collar him and ordered something to the housekeeper, who responded in a chortling gasp of shock before looking at Kagura, who rolled her eyes. The housekeeper really seemed to hate her, but it didn't bother the stranger too heavily, the feeling was mutual. Kagura remained sitting as Jaken stomped over to the woman.

"Rin would like it if you went to the playground with her and Mr. Sesshomaru," Jaken mumbled, the dog running after him and straight into Kagura. She wrapped her arms around the dog as it licked her face before turning around and running from the two. Kagura pushed herself up and wiped the dirt from her hands before shouldering Jaken as she walked past him towards the father and his daughter. As she made her way towards the two, Rin began to squirm on her father's shoulders, to which he let her down on the ground by kneeling over so that she could slide off of his back. The young girl sprinted towards Kagura and wrapped herself around the young woman's legs before interlocking her small hand around two of Kagura's fingers and pulling her towards Sesshomaru. Kagura eventually enveloped Rin's hand in hers, walking to the left of the young girl while Sesshomaru seemingly glided on the right, following the same motion of holding the young girl's hand.

"Papa, I want to go on the swings first," she chirped up, jumping off the ground to rely on the two to hold her up. Sesshomaru acknowledged his daughter's wishes with a nod of his head, noticing that Rin was swinging on Kagura's side but not on his, so he mimicked the motions Kagura was making so that as Rin jumped, the two would swing the girl forward with a smile on her face. As they crossed over from grass to mulch, Rin launched herself forward and sprinted towards the swing, landing belly first into the fragile thing, propelling the child forward with her arms outstretched. Kagura began to sit down on the wood paneling that rested between the mulch and grass, but Sesshomaru caught her elbow in his hand.

"She wouldn't have asked you to come over if she didn't want to spend time with you," remarked the surgeon, casting a knowing gaze.

"Why would you _let_ me spend time with her?" Kagura hissed under her breath so that the young girl wouldn't hear. "In fact, why are you letting me stay so long?" He raised an eyebrow at her, letting her elbow down and walking over to Rin, raising the child up and sitting her down on the seat. Kagura's gaze pierced the back of the man's head in frustration of his avoidant behavior. The young woman stomped over to the surgeon, touching the back of his arm. "Hey!" A stern look met her eyes and he hand immediately retracted. "You… You didn't answer me," she hummed under her breath, feeling intimidated.

"Rin, remember to kick your feet, otherwise you won't gain momentum," Sesshomaru returned his gaze to his daughter, one hand on her back as he gently pushed the young girl to help her start on the swingset, obvious in his evasion of Kagura's questioning. Kagura reached out for his arm once more, calling out again, but he caught her wrist in its motion. "If you don't want to stay, that's fine," the surgeon back as he released his grip on her wrist, resuming his previous actions. "Are you leaving?" his cool voice ran across her spine, the phrase itching the back of her mind, for some strange reason, there was a sudden overwhelming scent of flowers that dissipated as quickly as she encountered it.

Electricity seemed to run through her body, escaping through her fingertips as they twitched at the déjà vu. Bowing her head, her eyes shut tight, covering her with a blackness as she tried to recall anything that could help her understand her sense of acquaintance, yet no matter how she searched her mind she couldn't find its source. Opening her eyes, she realized that he was watching her face with a look that almost seemed awed, but quickly returned to his stoic appearance once their eyes met.

"N…No, I'll stay, if that's fine with you," Kagura whispered under her breath, a hand rising up to her heart again; it felt as though it would leap out of her chest. Somehow, she felt safe. The surgeon nodded at the woman before returning his attention to his daughter. He was no longer pushing her, but rather she was kicking herself higher into the sky.

"Papa, can I jump?" she giggled, her feet no longer kicking in unison with the pendulum of the swing. Sesshomaru sighed and shook his head. Kagura smirked at the concerned parent, recalling events of her own childhood. There was a certain joy that came with flight, even for its briefest moments that eventually crashed down with gravity. Sesshomaru either did not share the feeling or had never experienced jumping off a swing set as a child.

"I would rather you not, Rin. It's not safe."

Kagura smacked her lips, resulting in Sesshomaru to sharply turn his head to eye at the woman.

"What is it?" his eyes turned down at her, which only caused her lips to curl up into a larger smile.

"Man, how uptight are you?" she accused with a sigh, which didn't seem to have any effect on his emotion, at least externally. Kagura still hadn't figured out the man as she had been accustomed to. She looked at him out of one eye and noticed that his chest was rising and falling at quicker rate than before. "I'm just saying she's a child. Jumping of the swing sets is fun."

"Jumping off swing sets sometimes results in broken legs," Sesshomaru chided. Kagura turned her nose up to the man and smirked once more.

"And most of the time, it doesn't," Kagura countered, crossing her arms. Sesshomaru's breathing returned to normal and his mouth remained in a straight line across his face. Unsure as to whether he simply had calmed down or had relaxed in his nervousness at his daughter's well being, she turned her head toward the child. "Rin!"

"Yes, Ms. Kagura?" Rin's height from the ground had significantly dropped since Sesshomaru stopped pushing her, she would be entirely safe jumping from her current location.

"I'm going to walk around in front, I happen to be an _expert_ on jumping from swing sets." Kagura cast Sesshomaru a sly smile as she made her way over in front of his daughter. It was the first time she had addressed the little girl first, and he hadn't thrown a fit to her surprise, but he watched her like a hawk as she glided in front of the play set. Kagura stood directly in front of where Rin's swing ended and took two steps back from said spot. "Now, when you jump, I'll be able to catch you if you stumble forward." Kagura held eye contact with Sesshomaru as he began to walk around to her side. Before Sesshomaru could take Kagura's spot, Rin was moving through the air. She was no more than six inches off the ground as she did so, but when her feet hit the ground Kagura immediately knelt over in the case that the child stumbled. The child's hands met hers in order to steady herself, but otherwise, Rin did not need help from the woman.

"How was that?" Kagura's voice seemed caring and kind and Rin's eyes were big with wonder before she began to quickly stomp her feet on the ground in excitement.

"I flew!" she bellowed before escaping Kagura's hands and running over to her father's knees, tugging on the material of his pants. "Papa! Papa, did you see me? I flew! I flew!" Kagura hoisted herself off the ground, pushing off with her fingertips to find Sesshomaru's content look, as if his daughter's happiness somehow radiated over to him, and if she were being honest, the child's happiness seemed to have an effect on her as well. "I wanna go again, let's go again!" Rin tugged on her father's hand in order to replace Kagura's space in front of the set. No matter how hard the little girl kicked her legs, she couldn't coordinate herself to get the swing in motion.

As Sesshomaru made his way over to Rin to help her start swinging, a loud tone emitted from his pocket. Kagura saw the child's face immediately drop as Sesshomaru reached into his pocket to pull out a cell phone. Furrowing his brows, his face immediately dropped into what appeared to be a look of irritation as he unlocked the phone to answer the call. The father passed his daughter to head back over to the grass and away from the playground, Rin twisting around in her seat to try and keep contact with her father. Kagura leaned up against the pole of the swing set, crossing her arms as she eavesdropped on the man's conversation.

"Yes, this is he. What's happened this time?" His fingertips met the bridge of his nose, rubbing his brow line in frustration. "He did _what_?" Sesshomaru made eye contact with Kagura and then turned his back to her in an attempt to hide the conversation from her. "No, I just need you to repeat the whole thing, so I can _try_ to understand the stupidity of the situation… I'm in the middle of something, you can't just… I don't know… hold him for a little bit? No, I understand, but I'm busy right now… He's not my kid, you understand that, right? I can't just drop everything for him every time he…" Kagura looked down at Rin, who's tip toes dragged along the ground, her head hanging over in melancholy. The woman knelt down next to the little girl.

"Hey, kid, do you know what's going on?" Kagura whispered inconspicuously. The little girl sniffled and ran her hand under her nose.

"Papa's prob'ly gonna have to leave," Rin mumbled, she gave Kagura a weak smile. "Jaken says Papa's brother is a 'no good troublemaker'," Rin explained. The statement caught Kagura off guard - there were so many photos of Sesshomaru and his daughter, as well as of Jaken and Rin, that she had assumed that there had been no other immediate family members.

"Hmm, but Jaken seems to think that of a lot of people," Kagura's eyes cast over to where Jaken was walking with A-Un towards Sesshomaru, bleating out about whatever indelicacy had struck him most recently. What started out as a chuckle quickly built out to a full-hearted laugh from the child; Kagura's eyes shifted over to Sesshomaru, hoping that he hadn't turned around to stare, but her hopes had been futile. His cold eyes shot through her with aggravation as he hung up the phone and started over towards Kagura and his daughter. Sesshomaru didn't break his gaze from Kagura's throughout his walk towards the two, but Kagura turned away with downcast eyes and a quickening pace in her heart. A trembling finger brushed past her cheek as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. When the woman looked back up, Sesshomaru lips were pressed up against his daughter's head as he murmured instructions into her hair.

"I'm not going to be long, I'll be back very soon. You keep having fun here, try not to give Jaken too much trouble." Rin hummed in response with a nod of her head. Kagura stood up, using the pole of the structure to help her do so. The surgeon watched as Kagura's arms crossed in front of her chest, as if she were waiting for a response with some impatience. Instead of acknowledging Kagura, Sesshomaru turned around without a word, walking past Jaken and A-Un. As Jaken began to bark at his employer, Kagura backed away from the set trying to leave unnoticed.

"Ms. Kagura, where are you going?" Rin squeaked, hopping off the swing to follow the stranger. The child tugged at the hem of the oversized coat, staring up with twinkling, pleading eyes. Kagura's eyes searched the horizon, seeing that he was nowhere to be found, but saw Jaken glaring unapologetically at the two and made his way over.

"I figured I'd leave now," Kagura explained, "I'm sure your father wouldn't want me to stay any longer." Plastering a smile on her face, Kagura felt like her cheeks were sore; she knew how to fake smiles, it had been part of her daily life. She hated herself for having to keep on with an act, but children were still children: they deserved to be happy and live around others who were the same.

" _I_ want you to stay," the girl whimpered, her fingertips loosening their grip on the hem of the coat. Kagura sighed, her face falling into a frown with somber eyes. Although she knew it was only her imagination, Kagura couldn't help but feel the heat rising from the burn on her back, the stinging sensation of flesh melting as she had been marked. The fear bubbled up from having been too long in public, Kagura figured, but also the realization that the man who had protected her earlier had left. Truthfully, Kagura could handle herself well in a fight, as long as it had been a one on one encounter; there were several scenarios in her past where she could've found herself in a bay without having been killed by workers above her, but rather her customers. But with Naraku, she knew that it wouldn't be even a remotely fair fight. Having someone to hide behind, even for the brief period of time Sesshomaru had spent with her, had been comforting. She scanned the horizon again, finding that the playground was empty of figures she considered suspicious. "Plus, Papa didn't ask you to leave. Please stay. Jaken won't let me jump off swings." Kagura smiled down at the girl, she really was a beacon of joy.

"Okay, I'll stay," Kagura relented, allowing the child to grab her hand and lead her back over to the swing sets, where Kagura was prompted to show the child just how high she could fly from the seat. In those moments in the air, Kagura laughed louder than she had in ages; she felt free.

* * *

Sesshomaru seldom let his anger come through his cold exterior, but in that moment, he allowed every inch of his frustration to be poured into the car door as he slammed it shut. He parked a few blocks away from the school, the walk would allow him to cool off… hopefully. With hands billowed into his pockets, Sesshomaru stormed off to the building with his brows cross. The inconvenience of having time stolen away from his daughter so he could cater to his younger brother's attention-seeking attitude was more than enough to cause Sesshomaru to go over the edge at times - the relationship between the two had never been close or even compassionate.

And yet, when his brother had been orphaned, the responsibility was thrust upon Sesshomaru, the next of kin, which meant that any troubles inside and outside of school that Inuyasha encountered would be sent to Sesshomaru to handle. The two had attempted to live together years ago when Sesshomaru had first gotten his PhD and the fire occurred, but the situation got out of control fast whenever the two would bicker. The younger brother had ended up getting a job to work outside of school and rented out a cheap room from someone's home. Sesshomaru was expected, by law, to help, and paid a large sum of cash at the end of every month to his brother in order to help pay the expenses, even though he had his own bills to pay. The elder was more than willing when it came to what he was expected lawfully, but the nuisance of his brother's incidental bad habits always drove Sesshomaru mad.

Sesshomaru made his way through the bland hallways, peering in on the classrooms every now and then as he approached the principal's office. The surgeon had made this walk several times since the responsibility of his younger brother had been thrust upon him, he knew the school like the back of his hand. Upon reaching the office, Sesshomaru removed his hands from his pockets, preparing for the brunt of the situation. The back of his brother's head pressed up against the glass of the main office. The level of apathy the younger contained was beyond frustrating, and it was enough to cause Sesshomaru to curl his hands into fists as he entered the office.

At first, Sesshomaru refused to look his brother in the eye; he simply walked over to the secretary's desk and signed his brother out. The secretary looked up over the glasses that were lowered along the bridge of her nose with what seemed to be an apologetic look in her eyes as Sesshomaru handed the slip back to the older woman. Part of the burden that came with taking care of his brother was all the pity that rode along with it. Pity that Sesshomaru was too young to have the responsibilities, pity that no matter how hard Sesshomaru tried, his brother always wound up in trouble, pity that someone who was barely an adult was expected to guide a boy to live up to the same responsibilities.

All of it left Sesshomaru with a nauseated feeling in his stomach, none of the reasons they pitied him were valid: he barely saw his brother unless he was taking care of a financial or school related situation. He certainly didn't care for the advice some of his brother's friends' parents would suggest when it came to taking care of the youngest brother; he would apply it with his daughter, however. The worst, though, was when people would apologize for the fire and losing his father; it didn't matter how much time had passed, strangers always seemed to love throwing that fact in his face.

Sesshomaru turned away from the desk and motioned his hand to his brother without looking at the young man, "Inuyasha, let's go." A loud sigh came from the corner where Inuyasha sat, Sesshomaru listened as he lugged his backpack over his shoulder, as if it carried the weight of the world in it, focusing specifically on the sound of feet dragging behind him and the long, groggy sighs that came from Inuyasha's mouth. Sesshomaru felt his face growing red as the door to the main office shut behind the younger brother. He was thoroughly frustrated at his younger brother's annoyance at the situation based on his manner of walking and behavior. The child acted as if the whole scenario where beneath him, as if Sesshomaru himself was beneath him, as if the fact that Sesshomaru had to come and remove him from the grounds was not anything but a trivial matter in his day.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Sesshomaru growled as he stopped and waited for Inuyasha to walk at his side. For the first time, he actually looked at Inuyasha that day: he hadn't seen his brother in a matter of weeks, but he didn't look too different from their last encounter. Inuyasha was growing out his hair, tied behind his head in a loose and sloppy bun, and acne scars sat across his forehead, but were light enough that they weren't noticeable unless they were standing face to face with the boy. Inuyasha put on his baseball cap, something Toga had given him as a young boy, turning it backwards so that his bangs hung out through the hole at the back. Inuyasha had unbuttoned the front of his uniform, revealing a stained red t-shirt. His eyes had a far off look that seemed disinterested in anything Sesshomaru had to say. They had the same eyes: the two had always been told this when they were younger. "Do you want to get expelled? Is that what you want?"

"It wasn't a big deal, Sesshomaru. That teacher just has her panties in a bunch, she's out to get me," Inuyasha yawned, crossing his arms behind his head to rest. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes on his brother. Inuyasha opened one eye to peak over at a classroom that had caught his attention. A smile spread across Inuyasha's face as he made his way over to the window, waving at whomever in the classroom, making faces, and laughing about whoever responded. Sesshomaru gritted his teeth, reaching his arm out and digging his fingers into Inuyasha's arms and dragging him away from the door. "Hey! 'Gome was in there, you asshole." Sesshomaru ground his teeth, trying to bite his tongue and refuse participating in a confrontation in the school that would certainly draw attention.

"I _don't care_ , Inuyasha," Sesshomaru hissed under his breath. "Do you understand? I'm taking you home. This had better be the last time I get a call because I'm tired of having to pick up your mess." Inuyasha shook Sesshomaru's hand off of him, growling at his brother as he sulked behind the elder. The teenager looped his fingers around the backpack straps as he stomped behind Sesshomaru, preparing for the inevitable argument that would occur once he was strapped in his brother's car.

"Look, I really tried not to get into it with her-."

"So why did you?" the low hum of Sesshomaru's voice was colored with disappointment and distaste in his brother, but Inuyasha never really cared about his brother's opinion.

"Because I fuckin' hate her, she's the worst," Inuyasha mumbled, not caring to divulge the details of the incident to his brother, who could never understand how it would be to stand in Inuyasha's place. Digressing to emotional excuses worked for the teenager, it was a good one to rely on since it was based in science, but it also allowed him to ignore the deeper threat that lay in his anger and his social life, which was that he was isolated and ignored. If he could gain attention, even if he was notorious for it, at least people would recognize him and know his name. The teacher was a scapegoat, the real reason for Inuyasha's outbursts were that he would at least feel attended to. The young man slouched over, feeling the weight of his actions and emotions on him, but still refusing to let Sesshomaru catch sight of his vulnerability.

"That's the worst excuse I've heard yet, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru sighed, putting a smirk on Inuyasha's face.

"Oh, yeah? What was the best one?" Inuyasha chided, catching up to his brother's side. Sesshomaru glanced down to his brother for a moment, seeing the happiness on his face and sighing. Part of him knew that Inuyasha was only responding to the thrill of knowing he had gotten on Sesshomaru's nerves more than once, but the other part knew that Inuyasha was genuinely curious at what his best work had been.

"That isn't something to be proud of, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru opened the door to the school, not bothering to hold it open for his brother as the two walked out. Inuyasha sauntered down the steps away from the school. When he realized that Sesshomaru hadn't followed him, Inuyasha looked up to his brother who stood at the top of the staircase.

"Are we going to do this here or in the car?" Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders toward the exit as he spoke, hoping that the phrase wouldn't set his brother off edge. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes, walking down the steps and past his brother to make their way back to the car, purposely brushing shoulders in aggravation. He felt Inuyasha's eyes pierce the back of his head, he simply knew that the look of anger was plastered across his face: the elder was familiar with the younger's constant state of aggravation.

"Come," Sesshomaru ordered as he turned from the corner to head back to the car. Inuyasha remained a few steps behind his older brother, an uncomfortable silence brewing between the two.

"Holy shit, how far away did you park?" Inuyasha commented. Sesshomaru cast a glance over his shoulder at the younger brother, holding up his keys and unlocking a car that was no more than three cars down. After rolling his eyes, the brother hastened over to the car and slung his backpack over to one shoulder as he slid into the vehicle. Slamming the door behind him, Sesshomaru started the car up and immediately turned the radio off, but still refused to speak to Inuyasha. The younger brother was growing steadily in his discomfort as he looked at the grimace that covered the elder brother's face.

"Are ya gonna scold me or not?" Inuyasha finally broke the silence, flinching when Sesshomaru glared at him, but swiftly returned his eyes to the road. "So… No?"

The elder brother slammed his foot on the brake, launching Inuyasha forward and causing all his materials to spill from his backpack. It made Sesshomaru feel a little better, but not by much: he was still aggravated about having the spend the day away from Rin because his brother couldn't handle his impulses.

"Listen, I _know_ you're mad, just yell at me or something, like, fuck," Inuyasha mumbled as he picked his stuff back up and put it into his pack. Sesshomaru heard the rattling of pills and immediately spun his head to look at the source of the sound, finding Inuyasha shoving a plastic bag into the pack.

"What are those?" Sesshomaru demanded, the tone of his voice taking a dramatic turn from annoyance to anger. The younger brother continued to stash away his materials, trying to ignore his brother's question. "Inuyasha. Answer me."

"They're Kagome's period pills or something, jeez, Sesshomaru," the defensive tone in the brother's voice caused Sesshomaru to doubt the younger brother's statement. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow before looking back over at Inuyasha.

"Why doesn't she carry her own aspirin?" Sesshomaru countered, turning left on the street that headed down into a sketchier neighborhood in the city, where Inuyasha lived. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and slapped his hands onto his knees as he finished packing away his things.

"In case she forgets. I forgot, you never had a girlfriend, you wouldn't know," Inuyasha retorted, resulting in a punch to his shoulder from the elder brother.

"Show some respect, I do a lot for you. You're the most inconsiderate person I've had to know. Besides, we both know that isn't true," Sesshomaru growled.

"There it is," Inuyasha sighed, slamming his head up against the back of the seat. "Yeah, let's get on with the speech. 'You're inconsiderate' uh, 'you're wasting my time and yours' umm, 'you're a shame to the family name' and my personal favorite 'Dad would be so disappointed in you.'" Sesshomaru could see in his peripheral vision that Inuyasha was smiling ear to ear, riddled in obvious sarcasm. The teenager slammed back against the seat, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes, lifting his feet up to place them on the dashboard.

"Don't even dare," Sesshomaru challenged, raising a finger. Inuyasha grinned again, placing his feet back steadily on the ground. Sesshomaru pulled over to the curb as he approached Inuyasha's home, unlocking the doors and allowing his brother to exit the car, but the thought of the pills in his brother's bag still left him with an ill feeling in his stomach, especially after his encounter with Kagura. As Inuyasha began to exit the car, Sesshomaru reached over and grabbed Inuyasha's shoulder, retracting it when Inuyasha turned to look back.

"Listen, Inuyasha. You can do better. Don't… Be getting yourself into any more trouble. It's not benefiting you in the way you think it is," Sesshomaru looked down at the bag and back up to his brother, trying to signal that he was referring to the medicine, but since the two had never had a strong connection, Sesshomaru was unsure how unclear his message to Inuyasha was. Inuyasha's eyes widened as he stood out on the street, staring at his brother's face, clearly distraught, which was unusual to the younger brother.

"Sesshomaru, I'm not doing anything stupid," Inuyasha confided, attempting to ease his brother's concern, although it didn't seem to change Sesshomaru's opinion that Inuyasha had gotten himself into trouble outside of school. "Sesshomaru, I'm not lying. You're not going to be getting calls from the police, I promise, alright? Just from school." Sesshomaru scoffed, slightly amused by the younger's jest at the topic, but still tightening his grip on the wheel and looked back towards the road.

"I don't want to hear from the school, either, Inuyasha. It reflects poorly on us, and it takes away from my free time," he added on, as to not allude to the fact that he did care for his brother's well being more than he had to. Inuyasha grinned, feeling more comfortable with his brother's selfish tendency rather than the concerned one he had been talking to moments before. "Now go on, get out of here, I need to go pick up Rin from the park." Inuyasha let out a light chuckle and nodded his head, not bothering to thank his brother: he knew his gratitude wouldn't be taken seriously, so he kept it to himself. He shut the door and tapped on the roof, leaning over to add one more comment.

"Tell the lil' squirt I said hi!" Inuyasha bellowed into the window, and noticed that the corners of Sesshomaru's mouth turned up as he put the car into gear. As Sesshomaru pulled away, Inuyasha instinctively reached back for his pack, biting his lip in concern for the stew of lies he brewed.


End file.
